Star's Allies
by Cyalm
Summary: When another evil plot starts to form, we've always had Kirby on another adventure to stop it. But when Kirby disappears, who will defend Dreamland? Follow Magolor, Taranza, and many more as they get involved in a grand plan of the void. Strays a lot from Kirby: Star Allies. Check my profile for the pace of updates.
1. Prologue - Horizon

_"We've managed to do it…! Now then your highness, time to activate it, and the recovery of our lord shall go unhindered."_

_"Kekekeke. Let's do it then!"_

_Alright, let's go._

_Remember how to do this._

_Wave your hands. Infuse power._

_Connect._

_Search._

_Find **it**._

* * *

Emotions come from the spirit.

But…

What is a body without spirit? Is spirit equivalent to that of a 'heart'?

What does it mean, exactly? That the soul and spirit are the same?

Does emotional input depend on it?

And if emotion does originate from the spirit, the soul…

Can we make a void of emotion?

* * *

**Star's Allies**

**Prologue - Horizon**

* * *

"Now! Do it!"

_Deep breaths, now. Don't rush it._

A massive energy wave struck home to its target, and with that, all hell broke loose.

Things began to fly. But these aren't things. These are malevolent hearts, those who seek to inhabit, to corrupt an individual. And they began to hover, a beauty in the air.

Within seconds, the hearts zoom past two nefarious individuals, flying out of the area, into the sky.

The sky proved no challenge, and no creature dared to oppose the path of the mass. Past the giant stalk flowering in the land, under metallic remnants yet to be rid of, and in location of a small dome house, far from close help.

Perfect, it said, to target those who cannot fight back. Those who are helpless, in no conditions to be noticed. A nobody.

* * *

Just another day for Kirby, as the puffball woke up from another nap. 'Another snack is in order,' it thought, as it slowly woke up and stood on the floor. Kirby nabbed an apple the hero kept close by on days like these, when time was short to forage for another fruit. Swallowed whole, like usual. Now seriously awake, Kirby opened the door, invigorated—

Ah.  
_A black mass of hearts is in front of my door._

Kirby closed the door, and opted to open the window instead. As the curtains were shoved aside and the window was opened, Kirby was greeted with a sight truly perfect; the black hearts didn't think of circling his house. With a dashing start, Kirby fit through the small window and fled to the castle, knowing that the castle had walls for a reason. Sure, it didn't stop many people from entering it, but still— it was a wall.

_Target undetected. Proceed with plan B._

* * *

Magolor checked his equipment. He had certainly detected a flare of magic from Dreamland, yet the choice of going to the planet was questionable at best. Whilst he did repay what he wronged by building multiple challenge rooms and theme parks on the planet, he still felt guilty tricking Kirby and his companions. That guilt built upon him over the years as he travelled the cosmos on the Lor, and sooner or later he had to return back to visit Kirby and possibly, maybe gift him with something. Again.

"Ah… maybe I should build Kirby a starship… or maybe-" An explosion boomed somewhere. Then the alarms rang, and the Lor _screamed_ at the damage it received. In a frantic rush, Magolor looked around for a slight moment, his eyes catching on the red lights all around him, and blinked himself past the captain's chair and straight to the command centre. Via the cameras he installed, he checked his ship and found a giant hole on the side of the ship, damaging the main sail as well as part of the Lor's hull. A small 'ah' found its way out from Magolor, before he began to frantically pilot the Lor as best as he could.

Magolor might be inexperienced at crashes and forced landings, but you always learn from your mistakes, right?

* * *

Taranza, who had returned from the sky back down to the surface after his last ordeal with his best friend, built a small house along the Dreamstalk, a temporary shelter integrated with the stalk itself, used while he was at the surface. '_It's a good morning today_,' he thought, as he peered outside his one single window. '_Too bad I can't share it with **you**_.' Taranza glanced at the small flower he had by the window, a reminder of what used to be.

Sectonia had been a good friend, at least before the mirror changed everything. He tried to remember what she looked like, only to be smacked by an image he did not want to remember. The image of a bee turned to a half-flower half-insect monstrosity; and that stabbed his heart to pieces. Another second, and then he remembered that she sliced off the rest of her body to attack Kirby directly with soul. That _broke_ Taranza's heart.

He was certainly hit with depression that morning, like every other morning before it. Taranza turned a slight degree to look at the window again, and back at the flower. Another turn towards the sunlight, the everlasting rays of warmth, and back to the blooming flower. "I really need to let go, huh…?" he mumbled, half-aware someone was listening. He turned back to the lush landscapes and then he noticed the meteor rain that was black hearts raining upon the planet. It looked like it was some sort of pathogen, some untold corruption with a goal in mind. He locked the doors and barricaded his windows so fast that he didn't notice an orange butterfly sitting on his window sill.

* * *

Adeleine was painting outside, with Ribbon as company. How Ribbon managed planetary travel, it was questionable at best; the simplest reply she would give when Adeleine asked was "Magic."

Lucky for her, a trio of animals wanted to pose for her painting, and so she started on the sketch, and moved on to the base colour.

"A little touch of this here… and Coo, please don't flap your wings _too much_." Coo nodded slightly, intent on letting the painter do her work, whilst also trying to not disturb the pose she was holding. The trio had adopted a 'stack' pose, with Kine on top. Lucky for Coo, Rick handled most of Kine's weight, so her wings didn't need to support that much weight. A few silent moment and slight hummings passed as Adeleine worked on the easel, smiling, but not for long.

A starry ship entered the atmosphere, and landed relatively smoothly behind the group, albeit with some slight damage. And out came Magolor looking ragged and out of breath.

He had certainly not expected that much willpower to be needed in controlling the ship; the Lor needed the extra push, he reminded himself; and so he was here, unharmed, with less damage compared to the last time. He scouted his surroundings, and the five faces stared at the ship's arrival. Ribbon whispered, "Does this usually happen?"

The group approached Magolor slowly and carefully, to which he responded with a meek 'hello'. "So… nice ride you got here." Rick commented, unsure of what to make of this situation. "Uh. Yeah. Great ride, entering the atmosphere at top speeds. Was like a rollercoaster." Magolor responded looking far more anxious than usual as the ship's door automatically closed behind him. Kine tilted his head (which was quite hard for a fish), and questioned Magolor. "What's a rollercoaster?" Magolor quickly realised that maybe introductions was in order.

...

"So you detected an energy spike from Dreamland?" to which Magolor replied with, "To be specific, it was some sort of magical wave."

"Magical wave? Hold on, are you su-" Further questioning was cut when a massive swarm of black hearts began approaching the area. "Ah. I think that may be it," Rick stated, to which Kine replied, "Well, that is obvious." Magolor turned his head to the crowd, soon realised that this might actually be problematic after all. "I think we should evacuate the premises…" Magolor began, but that was cut short as the hearts sped like arrows towards the group. Magolor, in a panic, teleported away to the closest place he knew: Kirby's house. However, five people are left in the open, and as Magolor has the only access to the Lor, it won't respond to any of the group's touches or gestures leaving them out for worse.

Lucky for Magolor, it only took a few items to barricade Kirby's house entirely, and out he camped with no protection from his ship nor its defenses.

And then weird thoughts began to enter his mind. Thoughts of power, of things he thought he put behind him. His endless search for the Master Crown only to be defeated by Kirby at the very end when he was not himself anymore. Dark voices crawled inside his mind, and he struggled to resist it all.

Dark mist surrounded him. It was empty. It felt empty, yet it was not. It was filled with guilt. Guilt drenched the whole place, as Magolor swept his way across the sea of black. And suddenly an image; his dear Lor getting stolen, _everyone_ leaving him, _and it's alone, and it's gone, and it's null, lost and lost again, drowning far too deep in this-_

But that wasn't right. Logic and reason prevented that from happening. The true version of events wasn't as false as this. He had true and sincere feelings when he searched for Lor in Another Dimension; he had asked for forgiveness, to which the ship gave to him happily, along with a slightly less happy Landia. This had been done and dusted, not anymore a concern.

Then it clicked. These events, this temptation was in the past. It was already long gone from his system. And thus, logic prevailed, and the dark mist dissipated and a flash. Somehow, he felt stronger…? It felt like he had a slight bit of the Master Crown's power from back then while he still had his consciousness in Another Dimension. He moved the furniture covering the window, to see that it was over. The energy-like spikes are still there, according to his senses, but they're localized now, in smaller patches. Wait, since _when_...?

Magolor came to the absurd conclusion that he could sense energy. Not complaining that his magical abilities was powered up, he set out from Kirby's house in search for the cause of these anomalies.

* * *

"Oho, yes, yes, my queen. You wanted the most powerful being we can gather?"

"Of course, yes. It's our best chance in conquering the Land of the Sky, with a puppet warrior."

_Stop._

"You said you wanted to give me something?"

A small blush, a bead of sweat, and out comes the flowers. "For you, Sectonia."

_I said stop._

"Taranza, you know you don't have to give gifts to make someone like you..."

A turn of the head, a small cough, and a great manner. "It's the respectful way to give you something, Sectonia. Always as a gift."

_**STOP.**_

"A mirror? Well, it certainly looks elegant." A chuckle came loose. "I really should thank you more, Taranza. You've been so nice to me."

"No problem about the hassle to get this, Secty! I usually get these types of treasures in my spare time, anyway."

**_NO._**

"You like my new form, darling?"

In truth, Taranza wasn't happy. But he kept going.

"Oh, it looks marvelous. Like a flower of great, divine beauty."

_Please, **please stop.**_

"N-no! Why, Taranza? Why are you helping these disgusting animals in obliterating me!?"

Tears ran down his face, but he had had enough by that time.

"I'm sorry," he croaked. "You've changed, Sectonia." He threw the Miracle Fruit as hard as he could at Kirby.

Taranza had cried back then; reliving these memories made the feelings worse. It surfaced at every part of his mind, every thought returning back to her. His heart succumbed, deep in grief and memories of a love long lost.

* * *

AN: Sorry Taranza, I needed a cliffhanger. Anyways, this would be the first time I'm writing fanfiction, and I'd thought of doing Kirby Star Allies, so here we are.

The prologue jumps between multiple characters I'd like to get started, and while it may seem unorganized, it gives us our three main characters to look at: Kirby, Magolor, and Taranza, at this current stage of the fanfic. I promise that there won't be as many perspectives to look at in one chapter at once like the prologue again. Maybe. If you'd like to leave a review and rate the story, please do so.

...nerf Magolor when?


	2. Chapter 1 - Engaging Entrance

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 1 - Engaging Entrance**

* * *

Kirby jumped the castle walls, and quickly stormed up to the throne room with no hindrances at all. A quick hop and skip into the throne doors, and Kirby entered the massive chamber. A few pillars here and there stood about; a king certainly did have their own tastes, which was surprisingly literal for King Dedede as a large pile of an exact amount of food (he did learn to not steal everything his country had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) was stacked not so carefully right in front of the throne.

Lucky for Kirby, it seemed like Dedede was having his lunch, but it seemed like he didn't notice the puffball entering the property. "Hey, King D, you have a spare room? It seems like a Dark Matter copycat was roaming around earlier, and I was hoping we could sleep together for a night or so," Kirby started in a casual tone. However, things did not seem as usual as Kirby thought. As the King turned to look at Kirby, the first thing noticable about him was his dark, purple eyes. Those eyes connected to the king's, and in an instant, the king's rage flew towards Kirby. Through some sort of additive; an unidentified substance; the king had managed to become more absurd by growing massive, gargantuan arms that spanned from one pillar to another. The royal coat had ripped, along with some of his clothes, but the change was done. With no powers at reach, Kirby was starting to increasingly panic at the sight of this situation.

"Well. This isn't certainly on my agenda. Goodb-" Kirby turned to leave, who was promptly cut off by the swinging arms. Even scarier was that the king had managed to stay silent throughout the whole event. It was like his mind was out of the loop, its train of thought stopped indefinitely. Kirby managed a jump and started to float as fast as the pink ball could. Kirby _really_ did not want to get caught by this monstrosity. As they continued their dance, not one soul noticed the small black eye watching them.

* * *

"Ohnonononono-" Kirby was currently being chased by the king and his giant hands. It wasn't very fun, to say the least. Sure, Kirby has managed to avoid getting crushed or smushed into the wall, but the king wasn't letting up. The energy usually found when attacks are made were too hard to reach, and Kirby was quite sure he did not want to get crushed by the King's feet when trying to inhale the stars. A sudden thought came to Kirby as the puffball ran away from the King.

_Wait, where that hammer that Dedede usually has…?_

Noticing a main way of attack, Kirby scoured his surroundings whilst dodging the particularly obvious attacks coming at him, and found the hammer laying against the throne. With a swift run, hop and flop, Kirby quickly inhaled and turned the hammer into his own. A small headband popped into existence with the now much smaller hammer, and Kirby finally had a reliable way of attacking the king. A quick pound was executed on one of the fingers of the king, and that was all it took to turn the king from a menacing threat to tearing his lungs out with a cry of fresh pain. As the king tucked his hands in, Kirby made use of the opportunity to strike, yelling a small cry of his own as he turned the heat on the hammer and boldly knocked the King's chin flying out the throne room with the king itself, into one of the pillars in the room.

The king _screeched_ and proceeded to slam down into the floor, breaking it and bringing the fight one floor down. Of course, Kirby noticed the chance right away, and went for the attack straight on the head of the penguin. A quick slam later, King Dedede finally blocked one of the puffball's attacks, sending Kirby flying himself to the pile of food that had fallen down with them. Kirby inhaled everything in that pile; even the throne itself! With a mouth quite full, Kirby spat back at the King, who was unprepared at the massive star coming full-force upon his body.

Three chilling monotone words came from the king.

"_Don't oppose us."_

All celebratory expressions from Kirby's face dropped as the king said these words; ones that didn't sound like his voice at all. Following that declaration, the king _smashed_ the floor with his wrists, and broke a pillar into a large club, which he began to swing around. The fight just got much more intense.

Questions rang through Kirby's head as he dashed through a small opening between the attacks the king threw at him, such as _'Who is us?' _and _'Had the king been overtaken by _another _entity?'_ Another opening, Kirby saw, was the back of Dedede. It has most certainly _not_ been watched, as the monstrosity had no time to turn quick enough to attack violently in that direction. Kirby groaned at the prospect that he had to hope for dear life that he doesn't let go _and _that enough damage was dealt in order to rid the king of this extreme buff condition he got. Committed, Kirby swung himself below the king is a quick slide and hopped on the King's back. Dedede definitely noticed something hanging on his back, as the king began shaking his entire body furiously in order to try and shake Kirby off.

_Right. So now, the fun part._

Kirby lit the hammer on fire again, and began bashing against the King's head, hanging on to the coat as best as the puffball could with its stubby arms.

* * *

"GRAAAAAAGH!"

"Yes, it'll be over, just— hold still!" Kirby exclaimed as the hammer swung down on its target, an instant hit provided that Kirby kept holding on.

Kirby was quite dizzy at this point; the king kept trying to bash his newfound passenger off, which meant throwing himself, back-side, to the wall, or shaking so violently that Kirby managed to get thrown up and down multiple times. One such time actually saw King Dedede succeeding in getting Kirby off him, and began doing a celebratory pose, but Kirby quickly slammed his hammer against the king's back, forcing the king to take the blow and drop to the ground. This allowed Kirby to go back on and started hammering away at fast as the puffball's stubby arms could, until Kirby lost grip on the article of clothing again.

Another hit, another yell; it had been a long fight, and Kirby wanted some rest. Luckily, that hit was also the finishing blow, landing the king into an unconscious state with his arms slowly returning to normal. Kirby stopped himself for a second, jumping off Dedede's back and looked at the king's slumped position. With that, the puffball sat down on the throne room floor, out of breath from clinging to the king's coat.

"_Finally_... I can rest now... yaaaaaay..." Kirby tilted back, laying on the ground himself, and allowed himself a small nap. As he settled down, he thought he heard a small voice. The voice rang out quickly, yet so faint that Kirby didn't manage to catch it. Kirby turned to what he believed to be the source of the voice, but whoever it was disappeared as soon as the fight was over. Kirby, not caring at this point, went back and tried to get some rest. Another mistake, as from King Dedede crawled a small, black heart, unmoving outside its host, yet still pulsing with dark matter.

…

_This wasn't here before._

Kirby notated his surroundings. A mass of black void in all directions. No voice. No color. Nothing. It was completely and utterly null.

null

null

null…?

_Something's __**wrong**__._

* * *

Magolor journeyed to the castle, since he didn't know where Meta Knight is and Kirby is missing.

"Ooh, a giant beanstalk. I really need to move forward on that other project some time… maybe I should build a giant portable aquifer so that this piece of flora can stay preserved…" He was also getting distracted by the new landmarks of Dreamland since his last visit.

As such, night dawned on the reformed villain quick, as he began to search for shelter. And then he spotted a small house by the Dreamstalk. "That'll have to do," the magician said, mostly talking to himself. As Magolor approached the door, he began to notice the amount of webbing covering the house itself. It looked as if it hadn't been touched for a long time, at least from the outside. While it did give some chills to Magolor, he stepped in front of the door and gave it a knock.

No one responded.

Another knock, and a pull of a knob. It looked like it was sealed tight, either with the same webbing or some sort of lock in place. With no other choice as he didn't want to risk it outside, he teleported past the door-

Straight into a web.

Magolor tried blasting his way out to no avail; it seemed like the webs were strong enough to contain most of the magic power in the attack. He was going to have to brute-force his way out, which he wasn't certain would work, considering his skillset depended on magic. As his limbs stayed in their own positions, entangled by the magical web, he wondered if he'd just wandered into a trap.

That line of thought was quickly quashed when a shadow-like figure moved in the background. Is it intelligent? "Hey, can you free me? I'm sort of stuck, here. Uh. Hello?" No response came. _Great_.

The creature began approaching, and with the moonlight peering through the cracks of the window did Magolor finally see what he was dealing with. A giant spider-like insect, with six glowing purple eyes and a giant mouth with it, along with some sort of shiny armor on its back. Magolor visibly gulped as he began to wrack his mind trying to figure out what the best possible option would be.

With no warning and complete silence, the spider jumped at him, to which Magolor responded by teleporting out of the house. The web was still somehow stuck to him, as if it latched on to his _soul_. He was literally handicapped in this battle, with no hands to begin attack sequences. With no time to think as the insect burst out from the roof, Magolor tried firing a shot without the use of his hands.

_"Oh come on, work already!"_ Magolor thought, as he closed his eyes and began to focus. The spider didn't try to give him time to prepare, so he dodged and swiftly danced around the spider quick enough to allow for one single shot to be fired— it wasn't accurate, either. Magolor has to wing his shot so that this one shot that smack the spider to oblivion. And a great idea came to him. What if he let the spider get to _him_? It would certainly give him a no-miss shot, as well as hitting the spider hard enough to do most of the job. With no time left as the spider turned to face Magolor, he fired his shot into a portal. And so he waited for the perfect time. _Come on just a tiny bit further, advance further, just a slight bit more-_

The spider pounced, and perfectly mid-air was where Magolor wanted his target to be. He opened another portal below the spider, right by its abdomen-

It's _weak_ spot.

Suddenly, Magolor had a worrying thought run through his head.

_It's going to blow a hole straight through it. The attack is too strong…!_

Magolor was so terrified at the sight of the amount of power the attack had that he managed to lessen the power of the attack by placing a set of portals in front of his attack, redirecting it to hit the spider from the side-

It managed to fling the spider so hard that it smacked the side if the Dreamstalk. A slight yet visible purple mist lifted, and the spider slowly transformed into an unconscious Taranza. Magolor still felt bad for the guy, considering that in the end he turned out to be a normal person corrupted by some patches of the dark energy he noticed.

Magolor carried the spider back into the house and onto a hammock despite being tired himself, to which he was surprised at how clean the house seemed now, minus the glaring hole on the roof. Done with the events today has brought him, he laid down on half of Taranza's hammock to try gain some rest.

…

But he can't sleep. Something was flaring **way** too bright when he closed his eyes; especially on the ground. Magolor opened his eyes, and stared at where the disturbance is-

It was a miniature black heart. It was pulsing. It was also crackling and cracking at its seams.

Fear overtook reason, as Magolor, in a timely fashion, blasted the heart out of the house in time before it exploded inside, blowing up in a cloud of dense black mist right by the front door. Thankfully, the mist was gone a moment after, and finally then did Magolor pass out.

* * *

Taranza woke up groggily, as if he had been hit with the full force of Sectonia's gem, crushing him down. He looked around his surroundings, faintly remembering the fight last night… wait.

An image popped into his mind. The perspective of the image was… questionable at best with six eyes, and yet he was clearly fighting some tied-up weirdo outside his house. While he had no idea of why he was fighting some random stranger, he tried to dig deeper as to why he lost some memory at a specific point in time-

Oh.

_OH._

The memory came on full-force, as he succumbed to the painful memories he still did not want to remember, and transforming into… the giant spider. Ah. "Hh… should _not _have gotten lost in the past…" Taranza turned his head back to his hammock, as he noticed a sleeping figure in it. He approached the figure, and was surprised when the figure was the stranger he fought yesterday. Getting ready to kick him out, he then remembered that this guy actually saved him from whatever curse he was put into.

"I think I should thank him." Taranza tapped Magolor on the shoulder, hoping to wake the stranger up.

"Nghh…?" Magolor turned his body to the right and fell down from the hammock with a resounding 'thud' as Taranza tried to hold his snickers and hide his grin. "O-oh. Oho. You've must've been.. heh.. the guy who fought me yesterday, right?" Taranza spoke, though not without a hint of laughter echoing right behind his every word. Magolor faced him with a blank stare, before actually compiling the data presented to him. "Well, er… I was, yeah. Look, my name's Magolor, and I started being friends with Kirby about a few years ago. Have you seen him around?" Taranza looked at Magolor; _this_ guy knew Kirby? "Kirby? Well, last I heard, Kirby's usually in his house. I'm surprised that you haven't checked it yourself, actually."

"I did," came the blunt response.

"Oh. Well, you needed some help finding Kirby? I know a guy or two who can help you with that… see the castle over at that hill?" Taranza pointed to the castle from his window. "Well, that castle has a friend of mine that usually knows where Kirby is." Magolor, who already knew this, simply kept quiet and accepted the spider's answer. Looks like he is definitely going to the castle now. "Alright, thanks, uh…?" Magolor stopped himself, as Taranza replied, "Taranza. It's Taranza."

"Er… alright, Taranza. Thanks for your help. I'll be off now. Watch yourself, alright?" Magolor thanked the spider and started to head outside, but not with a small "Wait!" from Taranza.

"I'd like to come with you to the castle! Look, I have not met Kirby in a while, and I'd appreciate meeting with him again. Mind if I join you?"

Magolor didn't even hesitate to spout out his answer: a 'yes'. Taranza grinned at the magician and both of them started to walk together, with Magolor accompanied by Taranza as they set off towards the castle on the hill.

Arriving at their destination some time later, Magolor and Taranza stared at the drawbridge that wasn't opening. At all. Thus, both of them opted for alternatives, with Taranza bouncing himself up with a makeshift trampoline and Magolor simply floating up and over the castle walls.

"It's really, really quiet now." Taranza commented, as they walked on the castle's corridors. "You're right," Magolor frowned. "It does seem too quiet."

As they scoured for the Waddle Dees that usually work in the area, Taranza happened to notice the two story hole that King Dedede managed to break past, as well as Kirby. Gaping at the sight, Taranza shouted at Magolor to come and see what he had found. "Magolor, come look! Our dear friend Kirby is _dead!_"

"He what!?"

* * *

Kirby's head was pounding as he managed to fight off whatever the voided mind showed the puffball. Well, it more or less just ended on its own. Noticing two blurry figures standing over him, Kirby's vision slowly came back, which revealed that Magolor and Taranza was looking over him for any injuries.

"Why would you tell me he's **dead**!?"

"It's a joke, calm down!"

"What are you two doing here? I thought you'd left, Magolor?" The voice attracted the attention of the two individuals arguing in front of him.

"I did, yeah, but I came back." Magolor offhandedly commented. "Well, it's good to see you back, Taranza. You too, Magolor." Taranza smiled at that, and went back on spotting injuries for both Kirby and Dedede, who was still unconscious, even after an amount of time laying there.

Magolor beamed at Kirby's comment. The mood was quickly ruined by Taranza asking Magolor to try and wake up Dedede. As such, Magokor went and tried to wake the king up. His face changed as his slaps did no effect to the king's sleep. He tried a harder slap. And an even harder one. By then Magolor was scowling at how the King _still_ won't wake up. So, he went for route two. As he prepared his attack, Taranza managed another slap to the king's forehead.

In that second, the king stirred slightly, looking from Taranza to Magolor as he spun his hands. Words came from his mouth, as a lightshow happened in front of him.

"Wh-what ish goin' on….?"

"Eh!? Wait no, hold on-"

_**BOOM!**_

Magolor sent a bomb to the king's face, which flung Dedede into the air. "Oi, what the hell!?" came his response. Taranza was already on peals of laughter as the king flopped on the ground, unprepared for the sudden explosion. "You blew your magic at my _face_!" the king exclaimed, now fully standing. Kirby smirked slightly at that, and turned his head to the ensuing scene.

Magolor was holding his hands up in a defensive position, cowering slightly as the king stood up and berated the magician. Kirby thought a chuckle escaped Magolor himself, as he backed off slightly from the king.

"I'm sorry, I've said it multiple times, now stop chasing me!"

* * *

The four gather around, as the reunion was cut short. More sombre moods set in their faces, as Kirby began to explain what had happened to Dedede. Right in the middle of the conversation, Dedede set his hands down on the impromptu meeting table and said out loud, "Ya' know, I got smacked by a black 'art before I smashed my castle down."

"I saw a black heart come out of Taranza here too, right after I put him to sleep," Magolor inputs. "Really?" Taranza questioned, to which Magolor responded with a nod. "Oh. So the black heart is the culprit of this possessive nature?"

"Well, It would seem so," Kirby pitched in, whilst eating an apple from King Dedede's stash. " 'old on a sec. If Mag'lor saw Taranza spit out the 'art, where did _mine_ go?" Things went silent for quite a while, until Kirby just puts on a smile.

"We don't have to worry about that! If it's gone, it's gone. It probably shattered like what Magolor said."

"Ever so carefree, aren't ya?" Taranza commented, giving a smile of his own. "Well, what's the plan now?"

Everyone turned to Kirby as the pink round ball contemplated the issue at hand. "How about we try and find the source by eradicating the heart from other people?" Kirby offered. "I don't know the locations, though…"

"Oh! I know the places, clear as day! I see one in a forest, one in the hands of a ship, another in a cluster of some sort, one in a knight's possession, and…" Magolor rambled on and on about the locations of these hearts. "How about it? Is this a solid plan, then?"

All other three at the table nodded at him, and Magolor pumped his hands up in the air. Returning to a much business-style approach, Magolor stated, "Well, we should probably get supplies first, _then_ we head out. I really need to fix Lor when I get the chance…"

"Lor?" Taranza tilted his head. " 'is starship," King Dedede answered, and then turned his head back to Magolor, also confused. " 'old up, how did you crash? _Again?_"

"Some pink energy shot out and struck the hull and the main mast; there was nothing to keep it afloat with the amount of sheer damage it sustained. I'll need to find the energy spheres _again_ to fix it…" Magolor rambling turned to murmurs as he plans on fixing his ship. Taranza, completely out of the loop in that line of conversation, turned to Kirby and began discussing methods of transport.

"I mean, I _could_ make a giant web slingshot…"

"I am not going to get shot out of a slingshot again; the last time we did that, I became a bullet!"

…

There is rumbling in the distance.

Dedede, who was closest to the source of the sound, informed the group (albeit filled with uninformative things). "Wait… what's tha' soun'? I hea' som' sort'a faint rum'ling…"

Taranza and Kirby turned silent, along with Magolor, who was still calculating where to find his energy spheres. A few moments passed. "...yeah. There _is _rumbling. Anyone know what that is?" Taranza confirmed, as the shaking grew louder.

Unfortunately, no one ever taught Taranza the lesson of jinxing themselves.

The wall above Dedede crashed down on the king, as _Marx_, of all people, came bursting into the scene. "Hey hey hey! So-" A round ball of web was thrown at Marx. Marx dodged it. "Oi! Don't aim at me _yet_! I'm here to-" A pulse of magic, along with a star came to Marx. "Oh, bother." Marx dashed _through_ the attacks, flew in an extreme speed towards Kirby, giving no one time to react for what happened next.

Marx's face tore in half, as a black hole opened, sucking poor Kirby in, who had no chance of escape due to the close proximity between the two. The others, who ran for their lives ("Are you kidding me!?" came Taranza's voice) did not get the chance to follow Kirby in, as the hole closed as fast as it came, with Marx returning back to normal.

"Thanks for the gift, losers!"

And the demon flew far out of the area.

Silence passed between the three remaining individuals. Magolor stared wide-eyed, while Taranza did much the same. King Dedede, however, chose that moment to exclaim a not so friendly word. Kirby was kidnapped. "Ah, dammit. I didn't even know _he's _even _alive_. From what Kirby told me, he _died_ in outer space…"

Magolor turned to the others, and asked, "Did any of you happened to take a look at his face? There may a sign that he was corrupted."

"Nope," came Dedede's answer, "He talked loud and clea', unlike me; plus, I think we were also busy runnin' from whateva' attack that was."

"I see. We need to get Kirby back then?"

Dedede shrugged. "For all I know, he cou'd be anywhea', and the longa' we try to se'rch for him, the longer we waste our time trying to end the black 'arts."

Taranza slammed his six hands to the ground. "I could've done something; I had web, so naturally I would've been able to hook Kirby to something!"

"Well, we had no time to react at that moment. Anyways, Kirby's gone now, and we don't even know where to find him."

" 'ow about we make finding Kirby our first priority? In tha' meantime, 'oll of us can go exterminate the black 'arts."

"Alright. Agreed upon, Taranza?"

Taranza turned his head, and raised his posture back up, hands now no longer touching the floor. "Yep. Sure. Let's go."

"All set, then. Dedede, you want to come?" Magolor offered.

"Eh, sure. The waddle dees can repair the castle whils' I'm gone." King Dedede stopped for a moment. "Speaking of that, where's all the waddles dees?"

Magolor cocked his head, and spoke, "Well, I haven't encountered them. I haven't even encountered hostiles, either."

"Good news for us then, we don't need to handle getting attacked out of nowhere." Taranza commented.

"Right, let's head out." With that, Magolor turned to the door, and left. He was followed by Taranza, who sped up to catch up to him. King Dedede stood there, and turned back to his remaining food pile, as he began to find a sack to carry a lot of food.

…

"...we left Dedede."

"Probably shouldn't have left right away, huh?"

* * *

_**King Dedede, Food Addict**_

_Well known for his __**hunger and appetite**__, this king has managed to become __**extremely strong**_ _with food, gaining __**muscles**_ _and __**power**_ _from the __**whispers of the Jamba Heart**__. Full of energy from both sources of power, he jumps around and swings on the pillars of the castle using his massive, oversized arms. Of course, he's still just a fat penguin. _

_**Taranza EX, Crawling Terror**_

_The __**servant**_ _for his long time friend and queen, __**Sectonia**__, has succumbed to the powers of the __**Jamba Heart**_ _through the __**memories**_ _of his old friend. Taking a form of a large, crawling __**spider**__, his agility and power is __**amplified**__, making him a terrible foe to battle against. A shiny, sleek carapace covers his backside, making him __**immune to attacks **__from the back. The only points of attacks are his side or his underside. Perhaps why his form looks like a spider is due to his __**emotion**_ _and attitude at the current time, as well as his secret __**obsession**__: webbing everything together with delicate care and knowledge, as a __**gift **__to the __**mad queen**__._

* * *

AN:

That concludes chapter 1. Progress!

The boss info's are listed as bosses appear in the fic, similar to Kirby games.

Kirb has been kidnapped!

Also, the part where Kirby went deep in the null void? Yeah, that'll be explained; don't worry about it.

icanwrite13 and Kirbzarmon: Thanks for the compliments.

Please rate and review, if you'd like.


	3. Chapter 2 - Adverse Apples

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 2 - Adverse Apples**

* * *

Inconvenienced by Marx but now packed with supplies, the three-man group walked out of the castle. Immediately, they are presented with a choice; which area should they go to first?

"Ya' know, we shou'd star' in Whispy's Woods. It's usually the easiest place to se'rch in, due to the low amount of environmental hazards," the king offered as he lugged his sack of food.

"How about you two go to the woods and I'll try and find as many energy spheres as I can? You know, to fix my ship."

Taranza nodded at that.

"Alright then. Dedede and I will go search for those hearts, while you find those… sphere things for your… ship, was it?"

"Yeah, those energy spheres," Magolor mentioned as he nodded along, "In that time, you two can try and find some hearts."

A nod of agreement came from all three, as the group split, going into the forest.

* * *

"Low amount of environmental hazards, _what a joke_! This place _sucks_!" Taranza shouted, his voice bouncing across the forest. Turns out, the forest was entrapped within thickets and thickets of thorns, leaves, branches, and trees, extending all the way up to the roof of the forest. "Ah. This wasn't like _this_ a few days ago," came Dedede's lacklustre response, as he surveyed the proverbial brick wall in front of them. "This is going to take ages to cut down…"

No sooner than five minutes later, the duo has managed to cut down a single thorn standing in their way in the forest. King Dedede, who by then had already grown impatient with the process, tore down a nearby branch with his weight and lit it on fire. He flung the makeshift torch into the wall of leaves, and the wall disintegrated like it was nothing, only leaving a slightly purple mist behind. Behind the wall, was an expansive clearing, ready to be journeyed into. "Well, that's one way of doing it. You're going to burn down your country's wood supply, King Dedede…"

The duo entered the forest as they began to search for the heart in the forest.

At the same time, Magolor blinked past the wall, and had found his first sphere. "Great, great… now, where's the second one? I know there's ten in here…" As Magolor plopped the item into a portal, he began trying to find another sphere.

Magolor closed his eyes, and slowly turned clockwise, until his senses turned up positive for an energy source somewhere up to the east of the forest. As the magician trudged across the forest's lands, he stumbled upon another sphere, completely by accident, as apparently there were actually two spheres as Magolor double-checked his 'radar'. "Ooh, shiny! Lucky me!" Magolor jumped in joy.

Magolor's lucky streak of finding spheres soon ended at one missing sphere. No matter how far he extended his sense, he couldn't find the last energy sphere anywhere. "I suppose I'll find the last one _later_," Magolor mumbled, as he began his trek out of the forest to join Taranza and Dedede.

* * *

"At least _this_ is significantly less of a hassle compared to that wall earlier." Taranza and Dedede has progressed in their venture towards the core of the forest. Alas, an inopportune moment caught them both off guard, as a large vine swung their way. The two managed to dodge it (barely) as they went on guard for the next vine. Before the duo could realise what happened next, three more vines extended simultaneously, the four vines closed in on the two, trapping them. Taranza had tried to chip away at the vines using his tightly-wound ball of web. Similarly, as King Dedede didn't have his hammer, he opted for a sharp stone. Both methods ended up in failure.

It wasn't until Magolor dropped by half an hour later to try and help the stuck duo. "This. Vine. Won't. Budge!" Magolor had fired his magic at the vines, to no effect. It seemed like attacks cannot damage this plant. "Ah, I shou'n't 'ave thrown that torch earlier; I cou'd've repurposed it for this!"

Taranza stopped for a moment, thinking of any other items in his person that he could use. Suddenly, an idea came to him, as he started to pull something small out of Dedede's food sack, which he handed to Dedede.

"What... _exactly_ is this?" Dedede said, unamused. "Oh, it's a fermented Miracle Berry; I managed to shrink it down to this size after I found it in your food stash. Should have the same capabilities as the original one."

…

"And you want _me_ to eat this?" Dedede asked, incredulously, as he stared at the miniature berry. "I don't even know what problems this might do to my handsome bod'!"

Taranza rolled his eyes, and tried to convince the king to take the berry.

"Don't worry, you can inhale things, right? So, by theory, if Kirby can use it, you should be able too!" Taranza smiled at the king, just to entice him even more.

Dedede sighed, returning Taranza's smile, albeit slightly sarcastically. Actually, It was more of a smirk rather than a smile.

"If I die here, I'll come back and haunt you." The king swallowed the berry. A shiny and rainbow-ish color took upon his skin. "See? I _told_ you there'll be no consequences to your system!"

"Alright, fine, fine. So, I swallow the whole vine in now?"

"Yep," Taranza replied. With that, the king proceeded to inhale. Unfortunately, he failed to account for the power the Miracle Berry gave him, as well as Magolor, who was still trying to pry the vines open.

Magolor also happened to be right in front of the vine Dedede was facing.

"You guys okay in there? I got another bomb this time, I'm gonna set it off- _holy_ shit!" Magolor, in that instant, panicked. A lot.

Dedede, who inhaled the vines, providing a clear path, also took in Magolor by accident. Taranza, wide-eyed at the event, devolved into laughter as he saw the Dedede go shock-still with his stomach bloating, clearly visible under his coat. Seeing Dedede still in shock, Taranza decided to add to the madness by shouting 'Spit him out! Spit him out!', to which the king panicked, and responded by shooting the Magolor out. However, Dedede forgot that he still has a star in his mouth, and with Magolor on one end of the projectile, the star crashed onto multiple trees, off into the landscape.

Dedede opened a closed his mouth a few times, before settling on chasing Magolor down, mumbling small apologies along the way.

"Oi! Wait for me!" Taranza hollered, as he followed the king.

Taranza and Dedede has rushed to help their fellow friend.

…

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

At that point, Magolor's head was already spinning as he spun and spun on the star, flying at top speeds across the forest. He's had worse headaches, but this one was definitely on the leaderboards of 'worst headache ever'.

The empty black void of the king's mouth did not help, either. Nor did the bomb.

"This is not what I _asked_ fooooooooor!" Magolor screamt, as he and the star tumbled across Whispy Woods. As the energy slowly dissipated after crashing into many, many trees, Magolor tumbled to the ground in a massive clearing. As he struggled to stand up, an apple came flying by him, landing right beside the poor magician. He looked up at the one who threw the giant apple. It was Whispy, who had an angry look on its face. Magolor stared at the tree, and tree stared back at him.

"Oh, you're joking."

Magolor scrambled back a mere meter away from his original position, as he started to fire his shots at the guardian of Whispy Woods.

* * *

Taranza and Dedede arrived on the scene to see Magolor, half-panting, as he threw his magic and completely missed his target. It looked like he'd missed a lot of shots. Scratch that; it didn't even look like he'd managed to hit one, judging by the multiple holes near the roots of the tree. The area around him was a complete mess, too, filled with large apples and uneven ground.

Noticing the duo approach the scene, Magolor pointed his finger at them, albeit not that accurately, and shouted, "If you two want to help get to it already, will you?" As he spoke that line, an apple flung right at him, clocking Magolor on his head as the apple rebounded and fell on the ground. Magolor thought that his vision was dizzy; oh no, that was just the beginning. As his head continued to spin, he heard a stifled chuckle come from Taranza.

Not a moment to soon, Taranza erupted into laughter, which Dedede responded with a light punch to Taranza's face. "Not the time," the king spoke, as Taranza's laughter turned to chortles due to the sudden attack. "Fine, fine," the spider exclaimed as he calmed down, setting his projectiles on the ready.

Seeing that his two teammates are actually taking this seriously this time, Magolor took a sigh of relief.

"Finally," Magolor breathed, turning back to the tree, as he threw some magic at Whispy.

Wind flew at the trio, but it wasn't enough to hinder their performances against Whispy. "Just fire until you get tired!" Taranza yelled, as another ball of fast web shot at the tree. A bomb came soon after, as Magolor threw it at its face. Another fire of magic, web and food (Dedede still had no weapon), and the tree suddenly became enraged

In a moment, the tree grew larger.

"What…?" Magolor stopped.

"That's _very_ fair!" Taranza reacted, looking at the blasphemy that was happening in front of his eyes.

Whispy has grown about three times in size, and with that, his projectiles was also enlarged. As the tree began shooting _even larger_ apples and projectiles. "Uh, guys? I don't think this is goin' ta' be good," the king mentioned.

"Well, yeah, no kidding," Taranza pointed out. "That much is obvious… say, didn't you grew larger too back then? Actually, isn't it every day?"

"...are you implyin' I'm fat? Not that I take offense, of co'rse," the king assured.

"This seems to be the trend…" Magolor sighed, as his palms slowly circled around his spell. In a sudden moment, Magolor's spell was cancelled as Whispy started blowing hurricane levels of wind, flinging the trio to the nearby trees, hanging on the branches. Whispy began a second move; spinning rapidly, as if it were a helicopter circling in the sky, and lifted up into the air as the tree moved at a fast speed to the three currently tree-bound attackers. All in all, it really looked like a tornado.

_'Well, that's very, _very _fair,' _Taranza thought, as he tried to web himself to the ground. As Taranza lowered to the ground against the extreme wind using his web, He threw a rope of web to Magolor, which allowed him to attach to the ground below. As for Dedede…

"Hey, King!" Taranza shouted over the wind. "What!?"

"Let's use that weight you've got, yeah!?"

"What are you planning? WAIT, NO, DON-" Taranza threw another rope of web to Dedede, and instead of attaching him to the ground,began to swing the king around like some sort of rock. With his best efforts, the makeshift attack gained velocity and speed, as the king started to look like a miniature tornado of his own.

Now, Taranza focused. He couldn't miss, as he only had one shot at the actual throw. With the right timing as the wind faltered for just a second, Taranza released the rope he was swinging 'round and 'round.

The king flew in the air, though slightly delayed by the wind, but still had enough speed to pierce through the mighty wind like a blunt knife. The attack hit home, as King Dedede hit Whispy's mouth, effectively getting his head stuck in the mouth and stopping the creation of wind.

…

A moment of silence came as King Dedede started to flail his feet and trying to push on the tree with his arms in order to escape. Sadly, it did not work, which was good news for Taranza.

"Perfect!" Taranza congratulated himself as he cackled, prompting Magolor to stare at Taranza incredulously. Nonetheless, Magolor took the chance, and fired a bomb to the tree. Actually, it was multiple. Stuffed into a giant bomb.

As Magolor transported the bomb using portals to guarantee his shot, Taranza flung another web, this time much larger compared to the ropes he used earlier, trapping the bomb to the side of Whispy's trunk. As the tree tried to wiggle the object free, the bomb exploded, catching Dedede in the crossfire. The tree opened its mouth slightly, as Dedede was released, and shed a single tear on its left eye.

A black heart came out of the tree's mouth along with the king, which was quickly bombarded by Magolor and Taranza, shattering it.

Meanwhile, as the king reoriented himself as he was released from the Whispy's mouth, the moment he got his clarity back, Dedede immediately tackled both Magolor and Taranza.

* * *

"Were you _**crazy**_!? I was really sure you've gone ment'l durin' that fight!"

"An' you! You buil' _anothe'_ bomb and threw it _on me_!"

Dedede was angry. Scratch that; he was furious. He had been used as bait— both figuratively and literally; he'd been put in massive danger! And to top it off, Magolor threw a bomb at him!

Dedede grumbled, as his eyes met Magolor's. "It was Taranza's plan, not mine," the magician simply responded.

The king's eyes turned to Taranza, as the spider turned his back, looking at the trees, whistling all the while. Sighing, Dedede turned back, muttered something along the lines of "...should've _known_ it was Taranza who's dunnit…"

"Well, we're done here. Should we go?" Taranza prompted.

"Yes, yes, just hold on a second…" Magolor replied, closing his eyes.

…

"...alright. Let's go." With that, Magolor floated up and out of the clearing.

" 'right, 'right… Let's head somewhere else, then…" the king crankily mumbled as he gathered some air and followed Magolor.

Ten seconds later, Taranza was left alone in the forest clearing. As he facepalmed, he started walking following the general direction the two were heading.

'_I don't think I mentioned that I can't fly that well when I'm exhausted…" _the thought crossed over Taranza's head, as he exited the forest. Taranza's magic reserves were abysmal; if he used them, he surely would land him unconscious and that wouldn't so the team any good. So, he chose his second option, the one most readily available to even the most basic of Waddle Dees

* * *

Magolor and Dedede waited. And waited. Standing at the edge of the forest, the two couldn't see Taranza, so they opted to pass time by waiting (board games was Dedede's suggestion, however he didn't bring his chest board back in the castle).

As more time passed, the two got bored, and started to do their own things. Magolor was still surveying the nearby area, trying to find his last energy sphere. In that time, Dedede managed to gather a large log, and began shaping it into a new mallet. As Dedede fashioned himself a new hammer, a single question rang through his mind: where was Taranza?

…

"Stupid vines! Get out of my way or I, the great Taranza, will smite you to oblivion! Ahaha, hahaha!" Taranza chuckled as he finished that sentence. The walk turned to jog. Then to a run. And back to walking.

...

Taranza was still walking. "Why is this forest so big…?"

By the time Taranza the thickest part of the woods, the sun wasn't visible anymore. "Oh, great. Even better!" Taranza cried out, as he walked. Again.

When he finally made it out of the forest, it turned to night, and found the small group's 'campsite'.

In truth, this 'campsite' consisted of leaves, sticks, and a bonfire. With nowhere to sleep on, the leaves and sticks were repurposed to make three small beds, fit for most of the people in the group (King Dedede did not approve of the size nor how shabby it looked).

"Hey, hello! You've missed me yet?" Taranza began, as he sat down on the lush grass below him. "You're late. _Very _late." Dedede commented as he chipped the last of his wood, finally having a hammer to battle with again.

"I noticed, thanks," Taranza said dryly, as he stood up and slept on the shoddy bed. He didn't care that he could make better beds; he was tired from the fight, tired from walking, and tired from getting berated by the king. The instant he laid down, he slept like a rock. His stomach grumbled, however, indicating the obvious, that he shouldn't probably go to sleep on an empty stomach. As he woke up, he went and walked to the food sack that Dedede carried with him.

Noticing that Taranza hasn't eaten yet, Dedede turned at the spider, and tossed him a roasted apple, to which he ate it whole as best as he could; then went back to sleep again, on the ground.

"Sheesh." Dedede picked up the now truly unconscious spider back to his leaf bed, and turned to look at Magolor. The magician, who was commissioned to try and connect the hammer head and the rod, was currently trying to interlock it in place using multiple pieces of wood. As he finished, he handed it to Dedede, which the latter took gratefully and swung it at a nearby tree.

The hammer stood intact, with little to no movement on its complicated joint. Dedede gave Magolor a quick "thanks", before setting down his hammer beside him as he slept.

Magolor was the last one, the last person currently awake. He thought of what fun it was to try and solve a problem from scratch, to invent and create something, to experience your own creation. Lor wasn't certainly his own, but he loved it the same as his other, personal creations. It was like he grew attached to the stolen ship, though the (sentient?) ship itself had forgiven him. Another quick thought to all those times where he had _actual _fun, along with the adventure, the ride he was currently in. He really was looking forward to this… while Kirby might not be here, at least he could sleep peacefully knowing that they'll come save him, instead of them being complete jerks. As Magolor climbed on his makeshift bed, his eyes drifted close, and peaceful darkness surrounded him.

* * *

Kirby wasn't sure where Marx had brought him. The pink puffball had stared at the same darkness for over an unspecified amount of time; it was quite hard trying to keep track of time here; he was getting bored. If Marx wanted to try and complete another villainous plot after the Nova incident, Kirby would go and defeat the jester again, despite seeming to have died in space a long time ago.

In a sudden flash of light, Kirby was greeted by three individuals in an unknown place, as voices rang and Kirby started to get sleepier.

"Yes, I've put the sleep mode on him… what else did you want me to do?"

Murmurs came about, with a few moments of clarity in between them.

"Flamberge, tie the ball up, will you? And at least, try to do a complicated knot this time…"

Kirby's consciousness couldn't stand it anymore…

"Oh, good, he's going night night now. Me like night. Kekekeke. Good work, as always. Now, time to gather more…"

All went black in Kirby's world.

…

Kirby stirred, as he was tied up, hung on a wooden pole, and watched as there were now five people in front of him. A slight amount of uncertainty made it to Kirby's face, as they began to converse with each other.

"Flamberge, you sure this guy's our sacrifice? He looks sooo cute!"

"Yes, yes; you've been obsessed with this pink ball, but he's our main course for Master. You prefer him to be alive?"

"Of course not," a small, awkward chuckle came, as _she_ continued.

"I jest, I jest." Kirby swore a small whisper came after that word, forming the word "maybe".

_Okay, they're _maybe _incompetent, and one of them's apparantly obsessed with me. Alright..."_

_...that's a really big maybe._

"Hey, at least he'll be company for a while. I wonder if I can fry him?"

"Partizanne, you foolish fool; no fry fry in my altar tonight, alright? Kekekeke."

_...suddenly, I fear for my life. This guy has some bad sense of humor. _

Some time passed, and whoever talked in front of him suddenly started to become clearer to see.

As Kirby's vision returned more and more, the puffball began to notice the appearances of the four individuals right in front of him. They looked like a cult, to say the least, noted by their hoods and intricate designs along with some mention of "altar" earlier. Upon further inspection Kirby noticed that there were three who looked similar. One was a red-haired one, another blue, the other a bright yellow. '_Must be sisters,'_ Kirby assumed, as he turned to look at a fully cloaked individual. It was somewhat hard looking at this person's face, as it was completely covered with cloth. If Kirby had to guess, this one would be their leader, noticeable in the difference of clothing. As the hooded one stepped forth, he(?) spoke.

"Calm down, calm down," the hooded one spoke in a sing-song voice. "We want our _friend_ to get some space, after all. He needs the rope to not be naughty, after all. We'll offer him in blood later. Kekeke!"

_'Seems like this one's also sadistic,' _Kirby thought, as the four crowded in front of him.

One question rang through Kirby's head right now; where was Marx? As he raised his head slightly, he saw the jester.

The jester was at the back of the room. Funnily enough, he seemed to look... pitiful? His face turned apologetic after noticing that Kirby was staring at him. The red one suddenly walked to Marx after some time and gave him a pat on the back. The emotion vanished. He instead had a smile on his face, and not a good kind of smile. Oh no, it was a smile used when he smacked Kirby out of the way to make his wish to Nova. Like someone Kirby very much suspected, Marx talked about how he nabbed Kirby in the best way possible, and of his past exploits faking his plot for power (Funnily enough, he didn't mention that he was left for dead in _space_, which Kirby noticed as he followed their conversation).

After the three sisters(?) were satisfied, they left the room. Leaving only Kirby and the two left in the room, Marx began, "Look, I told them what you want me to talk about, and I nabbed Kirby. Can I get some rest?"

"Yes, yes, dear Marx. Sure, sure, come from me."

"Right. Thanks, Hyness."

_Highness? Is this guy some sort of royalty or something? He's way too __**nuts**_ _to be similar like King Dedede!_

Kirby made a face at the cultist as Hyness left the room which made Marx chuckle at Kirby's antics. Immediately after Marx checked the vicinity, checking the door, the apologetic face came back up, as he started to talk.

Marx took his first deep breath.

"Alright, look: I know this doesn't look good, but hear me out. That person, _Hyness_, has already predicted that Dedede and whoever he's with _will_ come and save you, so don't worry about escape, alright? In the meantime, can you keep your mouth shut, Kirby? And not blab this to anyone else?"

Kirby's first thoughts were, "I thought you _died_ in outer _space_ back then," which the puffball said out loud.

With a sigh, Marx continued, "I don't even know how I was alive. All I know is that one second I was in space, and next I was experiencing _immense pain_, coursing all throughout my body." Marx explained, as he fiddled around with his circus ball. He continued.

"So... at that point, I don't think I was conscious anymore, until a few days ago when I found myself waking up in this place… they forced me to help them despite me not wanting to, but I didn't tell them that, so I'm clear."

Marx took his last deep breath, and moved on, "In other words, I want you to play along, and maybe we can _escape_ first before that dumb false priest can detect a new future. What do you say? I promise, I don't have any ulterior motives, or anything like that ever since I made the sun and moon fight."

Kirby took that all in for a full minute, while Marx tapped his shoes on his circus ball impatiently. Kirby gave a long sigh, and agreed.

"Fine, why not… you seriously better not _backstab_ me this time, alright? Both of us want to get out of this place, so let's cooperate."

Marx flashed a smile at Kirby, with a small "Sure!" soon after. As Marx took his leave, Kirby wondered what the he'll do in the coming days, and if the looming catastrophe threatening Dream Land will be removed without _himself_ to help the country. Another thought of Taranza and Magolor, both who apologized and became good, both following Dedede in their adventure. As Kirby thought about those two things, he truly wondered if Marx was really planning to help him as he drifted off to another sleep.

* * *

_**Whispy, Winded Tree**_

_A tree long born into the __**woods of wind**_ _and __**corrupted**_ _with the __**power**_ _of the __**Jamba Heart**__, this tree has __**experienced multiple bouts**_ _on fights against __**multiple foes**__. His powerful wind can damage foes and push them back, as well as his massive apples and spiky projectiles. In truth, he is a __**guardian of nature**__, who was __**angry**_ _at the denizens of Dream Land for __**taking**_ _the forests' trees and __**materials**_ _to use for themselves __**without permission**__. Most just assumed that the tree can't feel what happened around him, but __**he**_ _sure did, setting up __**traps**_ _to those who dare venture into the forest. However, that did not keep the persistent ones away, and so, a __**thorny barrier**_ _emerged, slowly but surely around the forest's edge, closing off routes and preventing would-be adventurers and experienced lumberjacks from taking things that __**aren't theirs to take**__._

* * *

AN:

A good note to end things, as we see how Kirby fares in his predicament. Marx is a great actor being the one who made an unsuspecting Kirby collect stuff for him. (Mind you, Magolor did that too, but he came back and built Kirby more challenge rooms in his theme park.)

With the Whispy fight done, you may think that we're moving on to a new area! Nope. Join Dedede, Magolor and Taranza next time as they (will most likely) get flattened by a ridiculous boss.

...Fanfiction _really_ didn't want to cooperate with my line breaks.

Rate and review, if you like to.


	4. Chapter 3 - Round & Risky

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 3 - Round & Risky**

* * *

As the sun shone upon the three adventurers, breakfast was prepared, courtesy of Dedede. It consisted of bread, butter and some nuts Dedede had in his stash. All three chatted to their heart's content as they ate their meals. With their stomachs filled and minds back to a hundred percent, the trio began discussing, this time trying to figure out which place to go to next.

Taranza raised his hand.

"I vote that we leave this damned forest."

"Denied. I still need to find the last energy sphere, which can help me fix my ship (if only slightly), _and_ it unlocks easier travel for all of us."

Taranza sighed, as Magolor frowned at something as he closed his eyes. "Hold on… there's an energy spike."

Impatiently, Taranza pouted at Magolor. "Can you _please _find it as quick as you can? I really _do not_ want to be in this maze of a forest anymore…"

Surprised at the attitude change, Magolor stumbled slightly at his words.

"Y-yeah. Got it. I'll try to… do this with, uh... alacrity," the magician said, as he turned into his meek state.

"You better…" Taranza mumbled, as he looked at Magokor's face. To his surprise, Magolor is _actually _stumbled.

...

"...wait...what…?" Magolor turned into a confused mess.

"Hmm?" the king questioned, half-chewing on his food.

"I see the _source_, the energy… but it's really, really _weird…_ I really _don't_ know _how _to describe it… I suppose… it looks like a giant ball?"

The king tilted his head. "A giant ball?" the king did a double take, and tilted his eyebrows. "Wait, why are _you_ confused? You're the one with the visions and special sights and crap!"

"When I got those visions, they were for the black hearts! I don't have any clue what I'm looking at right now!" Magolor explained as he turned to Dedede. He turned back. "Oh. Oh, no." Magolor groaned.

"What? What happened?" Taranza queried as he approached Magolor. "It got bigger. A lot of bigger." Taranza's eyes widened, and he facepalmed a moment after. "This… _actually_ seems to be a trend," Magolor sighed.

" 'mazin'. It'll be like W'ispy again…"

_rumble_

"Get ready."

A quick second was all the team needed.

"Ready," Taranza confirmed, as Magolor gave a small thumbs up at him and Dedede.

" 'ight, let's roll."

_rumble rumble_

_crack-_

_crash!_

These sounds became louder as whatever is coming moved closer to the trio.

Something was approaching them, destroying whatever they came across, as trees fell in the distance.

Magolor readied himself for a tough fight, setting up a spell with Taranza, who was in turn weaving up a barrage of web. Meanwhile, Dedede fumbled with his new hammer as the being came closer and closer. The suspense was building in all three of them, as the ground shook and the thing came bursting out of the trees.

It was a giant ball, with… a lot of enemies inside. There were a bunch of Waddle Dees— actually, scratch that. The whole thing was Waddle Dees, packed into a sphere.

...

"Is this the apex of how utterly _ridiculous_ this trip has been? I don't think I can handle _more_..." Taranza stated, bewildered from the unexpected boss.

"No. It'll get a lo' weirde', trus' me."

The king settled on a pose, and readied himself.

The ball began rolling around the team, forcing them apart. In a flash, the ball flung into the air, and crashed to the ground with a lasting impact on the soft ground. Magolor saw this, and quickly scrambled to his feet, as he started his spell. Taranza loaded his web into the magic, preparing for the attack. In that time, Dedede swung at the ball, repelling the roll it used as an attack. With all three in sync for another battle, they've got it handled.

All the attacks didn't do any damage.

Confusion spread.

...

_roll roll_

_crash!_

"Uh, guys?" Taranza questioned mid-battle.

"WHAT?"

"It… didn't do any damage. I don't even see a dent, a crack, or any type of damage."

Magolor groaned, shooting his magic to no effect. Neutralised upon impact, the magic dissipated among the Waddle Dees outside the ball. It was like it was absorbing energy.

"Oh boy, this'll be a fun one," Taranza murmured, keeping his voice low as he lobbed another ball of sticky web, hoping to stick it down to the ground.

* * *

Kirby was still tied. Thankfully, he was just _tied _now, so that was a plus. No more awkward pole for him to hang on. Unfortunately, that meant a lot of supervising from the sisters, or Hyness, who kept on cracking awkward jokes about murder.

The blue haired one had started to call Kirby 'Keeby', and as Marx had put it: "You've got a fan, use it well."

She's brought a lot of memorabilia containing Kirby with her, it's a wonder how she managed to get her hands on them, as some of them were sold in public markets (because who _doesn't_ want a figurine about a legendary hero?).

Flamberge had called her "Fran" at one point during her shift; which _might_ be her name. Kirby was not sure, but he rolled with it anyway.

Flamberge held a fiery temper, at least when she's alone. That meant that Kirby had to endure long shouting from Flamberge as she spouted this and that to Kirby, which effectively decreased her stress by putting it on Kirby as he tuned out most of the rant, increasingly annoyed as time goes on.

Partizanne, who has an emotion akin to a rainbow, still managed to make bore Kirby out of his mind. It's like she's _electricity_; one moment talking about how "Flan" was too immature to another where she complained about her sisters, both in different emotions and tones. It was hard to keep up to, and so Kirby also tuned her out. At least Marx's comment about Partizanne managed to keep him entertained.

_'I usually call her the cheese lady. She wears yellow, and she stinks, too. Hence, cheese lady."_

Being unable to do anything was tough, but Marx would also visit alone from time to time, as he gave extra food he stole from the 'local' stash (actually, it was Hyness's).

_That_ gave way to an irate Hyness waking up to find a completely pilfered stash, and a note from "Flamberge" talking about how a bonfire was made and the sisters were cooking. Hyness, in an amazing second, managed to smack Flamberge to oblivion once the acolyte the leader ran towards her.

It supposedly escalated to the three sisters glaring at Hyness during breakfast that day, ranting at the cult leader. Of course, Marx was suspected too, as he was "still in his room'' as the situation progressed, as it got out of hand very quickly.

All in all, your usual shenanigans in whatever this place is. Marx _still_ hasn't told him. He was apparently 'getting to it', so Kirby'll have to wait.

…

The door swung open, revealing the one with a name Kirby had yet to know.

"Look at this, Keeby! Look, it's a doll of you!"

The _blue_ haired one came.

"I see, I see," Kirby feigned interest, instead interested in her name. "Hey, what's your name?"

"My name?" She pointed towards herself. "Oh, it's Francisca, silly!" A giggle escaped her mouth. "How did you not know? Have you not learnt of my name from my sister? They've told me that people should always know other people's names…"

It seemed like this one really wanted to be friendly toward him. Feeling better, Kirby relaxed slightly. Only slightly.

"Ah, okay. I just wanted to confirm it…"

"Aha! No worries, no worries! Now we're friends, right, Keeby?"

Kirby hesitated for a moment. What should he do?

Should he say yes?

He wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to make friends, though.

…

"Er… Yes."

"Yaaaay!" Francisca began to pick Kirby up and throw him like a ball. After a few minutes, Kirby was returned to the floor. "I'll bring you some cookies! Wait here, alright?"

"I'm not going anywhere."

Francisca left the room. _'It seemed like there maybe was a good person here, too. Maybe she can help change the minds of the other sisters…'_

* * *

Marx took a long look at the core of the altar, the Jamba Heart. It was half completed, with multiple things being thrown at it by the Flamberge to help it heal (as per Hyness's instructions). The really big energy sources were the shards of dark energy Hyness somehow accumulated; those _really_ sped up the process.

"Oi, Marx! Hoist yourself up here and help me throw these things!"

Marx was also just standing there.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll do it."

Marx flew up using his newly acquired wings that he still had no idea where it came from and landed beside the pile of things. "Alright, throw 'em," Flamberge instructed. So, Marx did. Right at Flamberge's face.

"Marx, I swear to-"

He teleported out, laughing all the way. Marx went back to his room, where multiple things can be seen.

However, his eyes always glanced right to his table.

The piece of clockwork on the table always attracted his attention.

He knew it played a significant part in whatever happened to him in space, but his questions were never answered. However, he had a theory.

Maybe Nova heard his wish of not dying before rocketing towards the celestial computer. Maybe Marx just awoken his innate power back when Nova was there, and his wish to rule Dreamland was instead cast aside by a fatal error from identifying the person who began the question procedure, namely Kirby.

Then again, the theories were bogus, and Marx had accepted his fate by then. He thought that at the end of his fight with Kirby, he would crash into Nova at full speed, annihilating him. Guess fate had other plans.

…

_I guess a visit to Kirby wouldn't hurt._

Marx visited Kirby's 'room', which was basically a holding cell. Kirby looked at him as soon as he came in.

"Oh, you're here."

"Yeah, same time as yesterday. So, you wanted to know the name of this place? I finally got the intel I need…"

...

"Jambastion Base?"

"Yeah, Jambastion Base."

"Who on Popstar would name something 'Jambastion'?"

Marx looked at Kirby.

"It's a bastion. Combined with Jamba."

The situation was still confusing.

"Well, what's 'Jamba', then?"

"Jamba is a sort of name for whatever magic or religion these _nutcases_ are praying to… other than that, I have no idea… Hyness said some weird things, like…"

A memory flashed.

_"Butterfly bad. It's must die! I must kill some butterflies! Haiyah!" Hyness swung at an invisible enemy up in the air. _

…

"Ah."

The door swung open that instant, as Marx jumped from the noise. He was tense. What if someone heard their entire conversation…?

"I brought some cookies, Keeby! Oh, Marxie!"

"Marxie? Are you serious?"

Marx glared at the pink puffball.

"Oi, shut up," he told him bluntly.

He forgot Francisca was even in the room.

Francisca gasped as soon as Marx finished his sentence, dropping her cookies as she did so.

"Hey, Marxie, you said a bad word! Oi, Flam! Marxie just said a bad word to Keeby here!" Francisca ran off, trying to find her sister.

The door was left unlocked as Francisca ran out to find Flamberge.

…

"Ah, shit. I'm going to get pummeled…"

Kirby leaned back at the wall behind him. "Relaaaax. It's won't be that harsh."

"...I might've pissed off Flamberge earlier…"

…

"Okay, it'll be harsh, then. You might want to run."

"Yeah, I think I'll start right _now_."

Marx ran for his life, as a shouting Flamberge came soon after with what looked like a rocket engine spewing out fire all over the base.

…

"Come back here, you-!"

Marx was currently dodging the flames he had fanned earlier. He tried to go into rooms and hide as best as he could. Too bad Flamberge won't let him. Luckily, Marx was blessed with the power of teleportation. So, he teleported into the best room he knew to hide in: the closet. It was a very, very cramped room, full of things like cleaning materials, a box full of items, spare acolyte robes, and multiple sets of hoods and cloaks. Marx chose the bright idea of diving into the clothing.

Whilst hiding, he stole a glance at the box. It was half open, and he was able to peek its contents inside.

The box was filled to the brim with packaging material, stamped with a Dedede seal of approval as it contained a lot of rations. Marx grinned; that was it. The escape plan. The problem was getting rid of it. While the box would fit both Marx and Kirby along with several items, it would be hard to convince the sisters or Hyness to get rid of the box, as they had no complaints with the box being there. It was a pretty nice box.

_Clack…!_

The door was unlocked. That meant that he needed to picklock the door, too… hold on, the door was unlocked?

His attention turned back to the door, as Flamberge came in. Marx tried to be as static as he could, as he waited for the door to close again.

Flamberge searched the room for a bit, completely missing the jester as he breathed slowly and evenly, masking his breathing with hers. Eventually, Flamberge headed out, closing and locking the door behind her. Marx went out of his hiding place and stood there for much longer; he wasn't going to get caught as soon as he left; he'd rather delay it as long as possible.

So, the waiting game began.

* * *

Kirby starkly remembered his second day conversation with Marx. He once asked why the jester couldn't just teleport out. "There's a barrier around this place, prevents me from being able to teleport out. Inside though; it's free game."

So, the plan was that Marx would try and find some way to send them both out without raising suspicion, while Kirby formed bonds with the sisters. In short, Marx was basically teaching Kirby to abuse the sisters trust on him.

"No," was his natural response. Kirby did not want to manipulate the sisters, which was obvious to Marx. So, a new plan was formed. Kirby will just get on good terms with the sisters, so that whatever he did would not raise as much suspicion.

Kirby agreed to that, and wanted to talk more, but Marx had already left by then.

Now though, the situation was different; Marx was forced to leave, and Kirby was genuinely worried for his safety, despite the dodgy past Marx had.

Francisca had left, chasing Marx around. The door was still open. Kirby supposed he should wait. Escape didn't need to be done in a quick pace as of now, anyway. Daylight was running out, Kirby noted. A full two days of not being able to help gnawed at Kirby. At least he could still place hope at his friends. He knew he could count on them. He had to.

* * *

"This thing is _**not**_ falling apart!" Magolor yelled, as the fight continued. They had spent most of the day trying to break the ball apart with no progress. The most they had been able to do was to part in half via Taranza's web, but it quickly repaired itself.

The group was tired as they tried to fend off the massive congregation of Waddle Dees, from sunrise to sunset, without lunch in between. The fight needed to end soon; but it didn't look like it was going to. All they had to do was to send it off _some_ distance to catch their breaths, before going back into smacking the spherical mass.

"I don't think I can stand anymore of this…" Taranza exclaimed, as he went around a tree for cover. Dedede was also similarly by a tree, swinging his hammer at the thrown acorns to hit the monstrosity.

Magolor collapsed first, and was immediately added to the pile of Dees. Not a second later, the trees fell, and Taranza joined him. Dedede gasped for air as he too, was taken by the giant ball.

…

"Why is this hollow?"

It turned out that the ball had a shell. The floor kept on moving, but Taranza and Dedede managed. Magolor crawled, albeit with some attempts to levitate up. Inside, was a core made out of two distinct things: A waddle dee wearing a bandana inside of a hardened shell of glass, surrounded by a spiralling Energy Sphere as suddenly gravity turned-

All three combatants were sent hurtling to the core.

Another turn of gravity, and the three were back at the ground, with a few new bruises on their bodies.

This repeated a few times, as all three were thrown into the core and back with multiple failures to stay on the ground.

Eventually, however, it stopped.

"Ahaha...fun…" Taranza cried out, with less enthusiasm than what his comment suggested.

Magolor attempted to stand up again, and flopped back down.

"We can't catch a break…"

Dedede smacked the glass, and no cracks or dents formed. "This thin' is too dam' strong! Bandana is in there, and I can't get 'im outta here!"

_whoosh_

Harsh wind flew. A loud noise formed around the ball. Soon, a 'bonk' was heard. And the next moment, a giant apple smashed right through the outer shell of the 'Dee Ball. It was Whispy, who had not taken the intruder nicely, taking both his forest down as well as the people who freed him from the curse.

A rain of apples crashed to the ball, as Magolor, Dedede and Taranza hid under the main core. As the shell dissipated into blue energy, the core started to gain speed and decided to fling itself around. All three who were still using the core as cover, suddenly found no cover to stand under. It was raining apples, and Dedede hit them all away, sending the apples up and away from them.

"Come on, one of them is bound to hit the core…"

The core circled a tree, and Taranza took his chance. He attached his web at the tree and the core, connecting them both together. Another web was formed, as the increasing number of webs traps the core in place. It was stationary now.

Magolor created a solid spike, and gave it to Dedede to send hurtling to the core and pierce it.

Dedede swung his hammer at full power, with projectile well on its way to its target.

A sickening crack rang through the air as the glass cracked under the pressure. That was enough for one of Whispy's apples to smash through the glass, releasing Bandana Waddle Dee out of the sphere prison. As Magolor quickly pocketed the Energy Sphere, Bandana talked. "Agh...my king…...what happened…?"

"Well, you see, I actually don't kno'."

Magolor took notice and gave Dee his answer. "So, you see, the Energy Sphere can manifest into a defensive position if it hits something. I suspect that it was dealt with _so much_ potential damage that the sphere caught you in it as you wandered about."

"Ah, alright…"

Magolor took that as understanding and crashed down for good this time. The king similarly also slept on the ground. Taranza stood awoke for another moment as he saw Whispy turn back into the forest, and fell asleep himself. Bandana simply stood here as he sat down, trying to figure out what had happened during his time in the sphere.

…

Taranza awoke at the crack of dawn. The sun barely peaked at the horizon, giving Popstar it's light.

Their fight had gone successfully, with Whispy's root blades. They've managed to crack the egg that was the 'Dee Ball. "Sometime after this all ends, I want to rest…" Taranza's head turned to the Dreamstalk beyond the plains, and smiled at that. He tried to look at Sectonia in a new light, remembering her in her past. Thoughts raced across, and a singular one stuck in Taranza's head. He imagined that Sectonia was beside him. He knew that she would be supporting him from the grave. Most people who've fought Kirby has regained sense, the same must've happened to her as well.

_'Look, Secty. I've been helping this group to try and fight whoever kidnapped Kirby. We've beaten foes. I'm doing good. I'm advancing to closure. I'm not there yet, but maybe this journey will help me find that closure."_ Taranza sat down as he experienced the sunrise, basking in its warmth.

A few minutes later, and Magolor woke up from the beating he received yesterday, to see a spider laying on the grass, facing the sun. "Calming moments, ain't it?"

"Sometimes, moments like these are what make our fights worth it. I just know that we're going to save Kirby," Magolor returned.

The two mages sit together. Soon, Kirby became the topic of conversation, as the two talked about their experiences with Kirby.

"I tricked him into getting the Master Crown… I still feel bad, actually… heh...uh…"

"Really? You _tricked _him? At least you had the chance; I genuinely thought the King was the hero I was supposed to find."

"Who knew by doing that, I've somehow managed to _not_ doom the planet?" Taranza continued, laughing slightly.

Magolor smiled along with Taranza, though his smile wasn't actually visible, covered under his scarf.

"In one way or another, I suppose Kirby was always the hero."

"He always was. He has a righteous heart," Taranza commented.

The topic shifted into something else.

"_Actually_...the Lor can travel long distances…"

"So _this_ was why you wanted to repair your ship quickly?"

"Yeah, it'll make traversing _much_ easier, when we're storming whatever place Kirby's in."

Taranza questioned the magician on the plan. "What are we actually going to do once we track down the root of the problem?"

"Well… Meta Knight has an airship, I have Lor, and Dedede has a lot of troops to storm the place."

"Hmm." Taranza yawned, and continued.

"Well, I might be able to convince the People of the Sky to send the king to the castle with their cannon…"

"..." Magolor was silent at his suggestion.

"So yeah, I'm using the king as a cannonball. Maybe. He's still got the round shape; it'll work out fine!"

"What's this with me bein' thro'n aroun' like a cann'nball?"

Dedede has awoken from his slumber.

He was also unamused at Taranza's plan.

The king was _not_ happy at Taranza's proposal to shoot him using a cannon (He did use it during the breaking of Sectonia's barrier, he knew it well enough).

"Yeah. Uh… right. So, I'm gonna shoot you out from a cannon. It's a valid strategy!"

"I am _not _bein' sho' out from a cann'n," the king told Taranza, tired with his antics, especially in the morning.

"C'mon, it'll be fun! I'll give you some practice; hold still," Taranza instructed.

"Hey wait hold on _no_ **stop-**" Dedede was getting dragged.

Taranza quickly created a massive slingshot by webbing up two trees, and with his hands, he held the bound king to one side of the catapult using a weaker version of his web.

He then turned to the other side and pulled until the web won't stretch anymore, and released his hands. The king went flying to the distance, a lot of meters away from his original position, yelling all the way.

Taranza snickered, which then turned into a cackle as he laughed at the king's predicament.

A dust cloud formed somewhere over the lands, as Dedede sprinted, planning to tackle the spider for his practical joke.

* * *

An hour and a punched spider later, Dedede returned on a much more serious attitude.

"Kingly priorities. I can't trav'l until I sort 'em out."

"Are you serious?"

Dedede was also being held back by his status as king.

"Y'ah, I'm seri'us. I'll sen' carepackag's though."

"Well, I feel kinda bad now that you're leaving on a sour note," Taranza noted.

"My king still has an army to attend to, now that I'm actually available. We can organise a meeting time sooner or later; just that Dedede _might_ be too busy to actually attend," Bandana Dee mentioned.

"I'll need to roun' up the Dees again, aren't I?"

"Yes, my liege," Bandana responded, as he turned to Magolor and Taranza, "We'll meet up someday; just wait for it."

Taranza scratched his head, as he dropped his farewell.

"Bummer. Well, see you until next time, I suppose."

"Sorry for his _attitude_ the past few days…" Magolor apologised, feeling slightly responsible for Taranza's attitude.

The magic duo left, leaving Dedede and Bandana Dee alone.

Dedede picked up his hammer, and began to walk back to his castle.

"Right, let's get started."

* * *

**Miniboss #1**

_**Katamari,**_ _**Deadly Sphere**_

_An incredibly mini-sized __**planet**__, one might say; this monstrosity was made using an __**Energy Sphere**_ _as its core. It __**takes in energy**_ _as a means to replenish its battery, as the energy is being used to empower __**Bandana Dee**__'s self into multiple Dees, all around him, surrounding him into a __**ball**__. It draws attention that it __**picks up**_ _items and either __**stores them**_ _for energy or brings them inside, to deal damage via __**gravity**_ _flips and an inconsistent ground. Bandana had found the core by __**accident**__, which triggered the creation of this doomed sphere._

* * *

AN:

Another chapter! Here, we have a deeper look into Kirby's situation, as well as Dedede's departure (he is a king, after all).

Dedede's accent was taken from the anime. I tried to copy that kind of speech, but I'm so sure if I succeeded or not.

Dedede need to take care of some issues in his country, mainly gathering back his Dee army, but he'll stay in contact with our main team.

As for Marx, well, he's _Marx_.

Magolor didn't do any funny business, trust me.

icanwrite13: Marx is an interesting person. His ability to lie (or rather, his penchant for lying, tricking, and the likes) makes him a fun character to write.

Kirbzarmon: Well, the way I view Taranza is like this: he's sorta the extroverted type and a bit of a prankster when surrounded by others, but keeps to himself when he's alone. Taranza is still affected by Sectonia's death, but he hides this from everyone else. He is still depressed, but that depression is alleviated slightly by his search for closure. He laughs as a way to stay optimistic, actually. That's why we have these moments with Taranza, and then a _clearly_ different personality once he meets other people.

Rate and review, if you'd like.


	5. Omake - Tenuous Togs

**Star's Allies**

**Omake - Tenuous Togs**

* * *

**WARNING: THIS IS NOT CANON. JUST DECIDED TO MESS AROUND FOR A BIT!**

Magolor chose the bright idea of diving into the clothing.

Taranza looked at Magolor, as the egg threw himself around the pile of clothes. Actually, there were multiple people there, all watching this magician swimming in the clothes pile. More accurately, it was a clothes _pool_.

Marx was talking with Kirby, as both of them discussed about the clothes pool. Dedede and Bandana was lounging on the seats they brought. It was a day of relaxation, and they weren't going to miss it.

Suddenly, a clothes monster popped out from the clothes pile!

"Oh no, this cluster of clothes is attacking us! I dub it… the Cloth!" Marx proudly announced, flapping his wings all the while.

"The _Cloth_?"

"I must defeat the Cloth!"

Kirby dove straight into the pool.

Inside was the monster. Hyness and the three-mage sisters are playing M*nop*ly, joined by guest star, Magolor. Partizanne was currently winning. "Argh! How do you do _that_!?" Magolor threw his gem apples on the table, which scattered it all up.

The four other competitors instantly berated Magolor for throwing his cards. Most notably, Flamberge was pissed.

"Pick it up, or I'll burn your clothes off!" Flamberge threatened.

"Oh, you want to see my body? What a great idea!"

Magolor took off his clothes… to reveal a clothed Magolor underneath!

"See? I'm still clothed whether or not you unclothe me!"

Flamberge groaned, and grabbed her fiery spear.

* * *

"Oi, help me!"

Taranza waved at Magolor, who was currently being chased by Flamberge.

"Aha! My time to shine!" Marx opened a black hole.

It halted Flamberge, but it also took all of the clothing in the clothes pile.

…

Hyness threw a fit, seeing no clothes left on the pool.

"You commited illegalness! I apprehend you now! Kekekeke-"

Marx stole Hyness's hood, smiling at the thievery as the usually loud Hyness became quiet.

Then all of a sudden...

"Scam! Scam! Marx killed my hood!"

Francisca stood up and pointed her own weapon at Marx. "Marxie, you _do not_ kill Ms. Hyness's hood!"

Thus, a second chase ensued.

…

Kirby began to make Hyness calm down as the situation developed like it was a ONE™ game. ONE™ was a card game involving types of clothes, but you have to match them either by amount or by color to progress. The last person with no cards left wins. But it was bad, and it was trouble. It ends friendships.

And it did not end them beautifully.

Oh, no, it was brutal. Tragic.

Hyness slowly pushed Kirby aside. The creature raised his arms as a chant rose to the sky.

"Oh, lord of ONE™! Strike these fools down with your thunder!"

A few flashes of lightning occured. Then, a single pack of cards flew from the sky above and into Hyness's hands. "I have received the holy card, the heart of ONE™!"

Star Dream came down from the sky too, to regulate the game. "TEAM MODE INITIATED. 100 CARDS SELECTED. ALL. PARTICIPANTS. MUST. PLAY," it stated, as multiple lights shone down on select teams.

Hyness, Kirby, and Dedede (along with Bandana) had light shone on them, as Taranza, Marx, and Francisca had another shone on them.

Magolor, Flamberge, and Partizanne was the final group.

The three teams were distributed cards began, and the game of arguments began with a shriek from Marx as he received what seemed to be the most powerful card in the game.

All the others drew four. The colors changed. Already, it was a bad start for the other two teams as Taranza smirked and Francisca yelled happily.

* * *

"So, use reverse, and I'll use reverse."

With that single sentence alone, Kirby's group was locked from playing as the two other teams engaged in a reverse duel. Eventually (it was a very long 'eventually'), Marx's team ran out of reverses, as Magolor reversed one final time and Taranza instead put a skip.

"I just want to die already…"

"Taranza, for goodness sake, _don't _prolong the game…"

Kirby's team was locked out, except because of another reason.

Another long period of time passed, and both teams ran out of reverses and skips. With that, Hyness can finally place a 'draw four' card. This developed into a streak of draw fours as the three teams passed the penalty to another team. The roll ended up _not_ in Marx's favour, as they were smacked with a massive +72 card draw (courtesy of multiple 'draw fours' and 'draw twos').

Marx seethed at Magolor, while Francisca just started to get teary-eyed.

"Put that smile away, cheese lady."

"Who are you calling cheese lady, jester?" Partizanne's tone moved to a dangerous level, still smiling, but not smiling due to their advantage.

"Shit!" Dedede swore, as Magolor's team finished their deck. It was only two teams now. ONE™ was just getting started.

"Language, you fat king!" Francisca hollered, intently focused on a plan to turn their situation around.

Taranza smiled.

Reverse.

Reverse.

Reverse.

Reverse.

Reverse.

"Rever- how many reverses is this!?" Kirby gawked at the number they've got. It was about 20 cards total. And then they started using skips, which increased that number to 50 cards. An amount of 'draw fours' later, and with unlucky draws, Hyness had to take the 32 or so cards that were in the never-ending pile.

"And checkmate," Taranza flung his team's last card at the middle pile. Dedede, in response, had thrown his cards at the spider (Bandana tried to hold him back).

Star Dream beep-booped again. "WINNERS: TAKE SOME CLOTHING."

Clothing appeared in the sky, which Magolor grabbed and dove into immediately. The other two girls took it with… mixed reactions.

Star Dream turned to Kirby.

"LOSER'S PENALTY: BEAT THIS DRAGON."

Landia materialized in front of Kirby's team. He looked irate at Star Dream, knowing that Kirby was not at fault. The dragon split into four and bit Star Dream into pieces, before zooming into space.

Dedede was still angry at Taranza. Francisca cried, but with tears of joy at winning the game. Marx hated Magolor with a passion now. Magolor… was neutral towards everyone.

So, in the end, clothing was the main cause of this hellish game, turning the situation to where everyone loses regardless if they've won the game or not.

…

"What a rip off! Cheap materials! Even if I win, I still lose! What is this!?"

* * *

AN:

I swear, Magolor ain't into some funny business.

Now, I could've just stood silent and fixed it, but I wanted to write a short omake, so here we are. Enjoy the whole 1k of this omake.

What is an omake, you might ask? Well, an omake is an extra non-canon part of a story (at least, that's the general definition in writing).

The whole thing was based on the typo I made in chapter 3, which is now fixed. Hopefully, chapter 4 won't have as many errors and name switches.

icanwrite13: Taranza is now a dork. Also, Marx'll get in trouble. A lot. I think. It depends on the mischief he causes.

Kirbzarmon: Whoops, didn't notice that when I proofread it. I use my phone to write the story, as well as to proofread it, so errors are inevitable, at least in my case. Anyways, it's fixed! Consider this chapter a separate continuation of the typo.

Rate and review, please. I need it. I think.


	6. Chapter 4 - Memory Mayhem

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 4 - Memory Mayhem**

* * *

The now two-man group headed to Magolor's starship, the Lor Starcutter. It is an amazing ship, decorated with striking colors and a technological marvel inside. The smoke coming out of it didn't give a good first impression, though.

"No offense, but your ship looks like a dump."

"...some taken."

Lor, being a ship capable of many feats, also had a regeneration system for its parts that are still connected to the ship itself. Still, it needed energy to do so.

Magolor inserted the Energy Spheres back into a special compartment down near the engine with a small 'plop', though with some difficulty as the surrounding floor burned and smoked, proving to be a hazard for those currently inside the engine room.

"Engine _online. Rebooting…"_

Magolor sighed at that voice, calming down.

"I actually haven't repaired the ship using this method before…"

"You guessed what goes where?" Taranza asked, amused.

"I mean… it's pretty obvious that the entry point would be circular… the main problem is that I have to connect the systems manually. The last time I fixed Lor, I just threw it directly at the engine… which usually worked. For some reason, Lor has a chute now, so I'm using that." Magolor answered, stopping at certain moments, as he followed power links from the engine to certain parts of the ship.

Naturally, Taranza followed him, touring the damaged ship as he walked.

"Right… so… that connects to there, and this is an AND gate, so I need to..."

Magolor was speaking technical jargon, which Taranza ignored as he walked into the main control centre without Magolor to accompany him.

There were a lot of buttons, levers, and a giant screen. There was also a chair. Taranza sat on the chair and began fiddling around with the manual he found stored in a drawer.

…

Taranza had read the whole thing. He also didn't understand any of it. What was an 'aerodynamic influence on ship'? What buttons does what? And so on and so forth.

Although the buttons were tempting, he opted to look around more. As he stood up, the screen lit on, showing a log of the crash.

Log

_Anomaly: Hit by attack type energy_

_Attack: Energy type space-time_

_Direction: Planet side_

_Fatal Error: _hull damaged, mast_main damaged, lost spheres_

_Result: Energy conserved, entering def. mode, gliding initiated, crash to p_popstar_

Taranza read some of the stuff on the screen. 'Space-time energy'? What kind of absurdity is this?

A camera shot was taken moments of the incident. This photo promptly appeared on the screen. It showed a vaguely paladin-like creature heading to Popstar. It was hard to tell; the light on the picture wasn't that bright, and the Lor _was_ crashing a few moments after the photo. Might this be a new lead?

Taranza began to inch closer to the controls. As the spider noticed another celestial ship in the distance of the shot, Magolor came into the room.

Dead silence.

"Well. Uh… Hi!" Nervously, Taranza stood up.

"You didn't touch anything, right?"

"Nope. Of course not. I'm not privy towards other people's matters."

"Ah. Well, thanks..?" Magolor thanked the spider, and returned to his official seat. "Pop out one of the guest seats over there," Magolor pointed to his left, "Right. So…"

Magolor directed his attention to his amount of energy and his capability to travel. It wasn't that much and clearly not enough for planetary travel nor dimensional travel, but it'll get the job done.

"Uh… alright. We need to move… east… I think?" Magolor began directing the ship to go east, as the ship steadied itself out of the ground, gave a small cheer, and whizzed off to Dreamland's east.

"You sure this thing has enough fuel?"

"It has enough, yeah. The distance is abysmal, but it'll have to do until I find more spheres. Our next target is the structure not that far from us, so the distance, I can cover."

"Finally, no more walking… I'm going to be dead tired, I swear..." Taranza celebrated, as he flung his multiple hands back and enjoyed the roadtrip to their next destination, when all of a sudden, a massive ship blocks the sun and obscures the sky as it approached Dreamland. It flew above the Lor, and the Lor stopped dead as Magolor halted their advance.

"I really hope this isn't trouble."

* * *

_A few days earlier…_

News spread fast on Ripple Star as its inhabitants found Ribbon, heavily unconscious as the fairy managed to make it back home through magic.

'Dreamland in **danger**, for real!' was a hot topic as of that day, and it sent Ripple Star inhabitants into a frenzy as the home planet of the travelling heroes was now being attacked by some sort of 'black magic', as the news called it.

"Calm down, everyone. We must not panic at this stage, as we must provide some support in our defenses and help Dreamland out. We must…"

The queen the best she could do in the situation. She stood below the castle, as she delivered her speech fluently to the masses.

Truth be told, some were calmed, and others were not, but the facts have not changed; _something_ was attacking Dreamland, and priorities were being discussed by the '_Ripple High Council_', as the queen called it.

After the Dark Matter invasion back then, precautions were taken to help protect the queen and the country, as well as helping others in need if possible.

Unfortunately, politics was a troubling thing in Ripple, as everyone agrees in the queen, but the council members gained high controversy for their seemingly unjust and biased choices.

It was panicking, to see one of the touring fairies get attacked in Dreamland as Ribbon soon explained the situation after she woke up the day after.

Again, mass panic ensued, and the situation was greatly amplified as people locked their doors, boarded their windows, and spent day after day in their homes, now not even feeling comfort at the thought of this new disaster.

However, things were different for one such lady…

…

Susie was reading the local newspaper about the hot topic currently flooding news articles. Supposedly, Popstar was attacked. It was actually damaged thoroughly this time, based on an account by a person named 'Ribbon'.

_'There were dark hearts… a shattered sky… everything was chaotic.'_

Now, Susie was sure that the news was _slightly_ exaggerating here. It can't be that _bad._

When her father's company... tried to do something, they got kicked out. It was spearheaded by the pink ball, the one named Kirby, she later learned from Ripple's inhabitants.

It was actually extremely lucky that she even managed to create a small economy in Ripple. A new company never got the clout as a popular one after all, especially when descendants are involved and your father managed to be infamous for trying to conquer Dreamland for its resources.

Now head of '_Susie's Shoppe_', Susie managed to start afresh and away from her father's ideology, a man who simply wished for power…

A power granted by Star Dream, which Kirby defeated, too.

So why wasn't the news stating that Kirby wasn't on the case?

…

She _had_ to come back to Dreamland. With her entourage of robots and Ripple employees, she packed up her things and set her targets on Dreamland, as she returned to the land who did not yield to the Haltmann Corp.

"Alrighty everyone, we're packing up; grab your stuff and we'll set off in 5!" She said with her 'noise amplifier', as the crew took off.

_'...the Ripple employees are nervous, but that's okay,'_ Susie thought, knowing the feeling of dread, facing new things like a completely different environment.

_'Oh well. It's in the contract. No backing out now, especially not the ones who thought this was an easy job...'_

* * *

The two ships docked next to each other, as Taranza and Magolor went out to greet whoever it was inside the massive ship.

"DROP OFF POINT REACHED, OPEN THE GATE!" came the loud, blaring noise as Taranza cringed at the noise and Magolor holding his ears shut.

_Strange_.

Magolor immediately noticed nearly three-quarters of the ship's crew were robots, with the other quarter being living members. They seemed like Ripple Star's population though…

After the massive crew came out, a robotic(?) girl came out, holding a cone shaped electrical device.

"POSITIONS!"

"...I'm really starting to reconsider if we've should've come out at all," Taranza noted, ears ringing all the while.

As her crew rearranged themselves, the girl stepped towards the Magolor and Taranza.

She opened her hand in front of the two, as she introduced herself. "Hello! My name is Susie, and I'm the proud owner of Susie's Shoppe!"

"Somehow, I feel as if I should sue her for copyright," Magolor whispered, his head tilted to Taranza.

"Well… uh… you're setting up shop here?" was what Susie got from Magolor, his first comment unheard.

"Yes! I've read the news though… Dreamland is in a bad place, isn't it?"

"Yeah. More or less," Taranza said bluntly, as he began inching away from Susie every few seconds.

"Well, lemme help ya!" Susie winked at the two magicians.

They had a feeling not to trust this girl, coming from out of nowhere and wanting to 'help'. However, more help _would_ be appreciated.

"Eh, what could go wrong. Sure, we'll accept your help. So… Kirby's been kidnapped."

Susie's nod halted.

"What?"

"Kirby's been kidnapped. We're trying to track the hearts through examination and visions, and then we can determine the source through that," Magolor informed her.

"I see. Well, I suppose I _can_ help Kirby. Pinky still needs to see the wonders of technology, after that terrible first impression back then…"

Magolor tilted his head in confusion, but Taranza knew what she meant. He had been there himself for it, of course. "Ah, you have association with Kirby?" A nod came from Susie. "Alright then, that'll do it. Right now, we're just flying across the land to try and find the next heart location…"

"I can build a tracker for them, if you want."

"We don't need it, already got Magolor."

Taranza pointed to the wizard beside him.

Magolor, having already been left out of the conversation, started to look for the next heart as the others had delved into chit-chat.

"Alrighty then! I suppose I'll just follow your ship?"

"More like his ship…" Taranza murmured, as his voice returned to normal, "Yeah, just follow it."

* * *

Magolor steered his ship near a cliff. After docking it relatively close to the cliffside, Magolor exited out of the ship.

"Alright, some energy spheres rolled down that cave, and I need to retrieve them; just _wait_ for me, and you'll be fine."

Confirmation came from both the spider and the robot.

Magolor swiftly ran into the cave.

"Right… so what do we do now?"

"Usually, we wait. Or, we could do something else."

Susie blinked a few times, before her face lit up.

"I'll give you a tour of my ship, then! Come on!"

Taranza's hand was forcibly grabbed by Susie as she dragged the spider into her ship.

…

The door opened, leading to a room filled with weapons.

"We have a multitude of guns, machine guns, cannons, swords, and energy variants. We mostly keep the energy ones."

She showed Taranza the room full of weapons, all either scattered on the floor or organized on the surrounding supports.

"Why do you need all this?" was the inevitable question.

"It was mostly from a precursor era of the ship… mostly raided from my father."

Susie gave an awkward chuckle upon reaching that last part.

"Let's… just move on, then?" Taranza prompted, allowing Susie to _not_ discuss whatever she has to say. Based on her reactions, it seemed like she was avoiding mentioning her father.

"Y-yeah, let's go."

The two stepped into an 'elevator' (or at least that's what Susie called it). Taranza fell on the floor as the mechanical machine sped up to the top floor of the ship.

Ding!

"Here we have the command centre as well as the bank."

Taranza inquired about the bank. _They had a bank in here?_

Upon unlocking the vault doors, Taranza was greeted with piles; no, stacks and stacks of paper cash, gold bars, and whatever trading currency the Susie Shoppe did in multiple planets.

"Huh." Taranza was in a stupor. He never imagined what this amount of money would do to a normal person. This company was ludicrously rich, and they said they're still _starting out_!?

Susie noted the expression on Taranza's face. He had definitely not seen this small amount of money congregate. _'Did the residents of Dreamland seriously lack economy?'_ she thought, making an assumption that was entirely wrong.

Opting to try and drag Taranza (again), she pulled on his hands as the spider was dragged backwards to the captain's seat. "This, right here, is my seat. It's the brain of the ship."

Taranza rolled his eyes at that, already knowing what's the object she's referring to.

As Susie showed some the controls, a giant sound roared through the sky. Susie immediately checked the radar, as the alarm came on. "Emergency Level 1, Imminent Threat," the ship alarm sounded, as the light turned red.

"And I thought I didn't have to do this…" Susie mumbled, as she headed to the elevator. Taranza followed suit. Elevator music played. It was tense, and this elevator music is not helping.

…

WHAM!

"Holy f-"

The elevator dropped down like a rocket crash.

Taranza naturally, screamed at this.

_'Ah, he's panicking. Great… where's that emergency exit again?' _Susie looked around for a bit, and then spotted it. Thank goodness she still half-memorised the elevator manual.

Susie climbed up the rails and opened the hatch to the elevator shaft. She offered a hand to Taranza, which he gladly saw and took. Taranza floated, carrying Susie. That would be too long of a trip however, as another 'BANG!' rang through the air.

Taranza began to devise a quicker solution. Using web as a rope, Taranza carried Susie to the top of the shaft, as the two made their way to the command centre.

* * *

Magolor was coming back from his cave dive. He had managed to get all Energy Spheres from inside the cave (thankfully, there were only two that he confirmed to be in there, and his search yielded them). Exiting the mouth of the cave, he came face to face with a battle scene, filled with artillery, ammunition, and a giant zeppelin using too much of its guns at Susie's ship.

"Aha… we _never_ get a break, I swear…" Magolor rushed to his ship to help.

Meanwhile, Taranza manned the guns while Susie flew the airship.

"Do a barrel roll!"

"I can't, you imbecile! Do you want stabilised shots or not!?"

As it obviously turned out, Taranza was an amateur at gunning. Combined with an intercom directly to the ship turrets, it was a hectic atmosphere as the two airborne ships dueled it out.

…

The Lor rose to the air, albeit slowly. Magolor turned its star cannons to the blimp, and fired his weapons. The strike hit dead-on, as the gunning from Susie's ship stopped for a second as the blimp slowly fell from the air.

Magolor wiped his forehead at that, and went to fit in his two energy spheres.

**KABLAM**!

Magolor turned around.

The blimp was no longer a blimp. It had the shape of an aircraft, much faster, along with a name imprinted on its side: Kabula. Purple smoke and mist rose from the new craft, turning its shade purple and black as a black heart sat on the pilot's seat of this new opponent.

It looked very much equipped for battle.

Bullets rained down on the Lor. Magolor propped up the ship's protective shield in response. After he did so, he basically scrambled to the engine room now; time was scarce, and every second counted. Bombs flew at or around the Lor, dealing damage to the shield. The shield crackled a few times as the magician frantically ran down.

…

Susie commanded Taranza to fire the main cannon again. It nearly missed. Just barely, it hit the edge of Kabula's wing.

"Taranza, shoot better!"

"I'm learning all I can as I shoot, don't blame me for my poor aim!"

Taranza pushed the buttons and lever as he tried to aim for the engine. It hit the side of a mountain as Kabula swerved around Taranza's shot.

"Shit, I keep missing!" Taranza swore.

"Get good then!"

Magolor joined in the fray, now flying slightly faster as the ship flew and fired upon the agile aircraft. As the Lor attacked the plane, Magolor simply had enough of this battle and went up on deck.

"Is he crazy!?" Susie exclaimed upon seeing Magolor up on his deck.

"Probably," Taranza shrugged, trying to not miss. Again.

…

"Here goes nothing…" Magolor prepared his attack, a small bomb designed to fly through the air easily. The bomb was dyed pink with some spare paint he had, and he pointed at the bomb, and then to Kabula, hoping that Taranza and Susie could catch his hint.

Susie's ship flicked its wings up and down, and Magolor took that as prime time to try his idea. He flew up to the plane and hopped on, nearly getting minced by the propeller as a result.

He dropped his bomb at the pilot's seat as he jumped off and levitated down.

It was attached on top of the engine. Susie, catching the hint, told Taranza to just rapid-fire at the plane. As Taranza shot, one of the bullets struck the bomb. Dead on.

The bomb blew up, sending the aircraft into a frenzy as it tried to recalibrate its flight pattern and stabilise.

Kabula ended up crashing into the sunset as more shots came from Susie's ship, courtesy of Taranza.

_'Guess they want to be safe about Kabula's defeat.'_

Magolor stopped that thought and chased down the plane to destroy the black heart.

Susie and Taranza were seen zooming around a couple minutes later after they've left the command centre and the gunning station respectively.

Magolor reached the crash site. The airplane was completely annihilated, broken beyond repair. The black heart ended up in a small crater beside the plane. As Magolor went and created a small magical orb to break it apart, a bolt of green lashed out in front of his eyes and struck the heart dead on.

"That was what we- _urgh_\- targeted, right?" Susie came out of the bushes as she approached the crash site.

"Yep," Magolor replied with a small confirmative nod.

Magolor closed his eyes and turned back. As last, he could take a break—

Something _glowed_ where the heart stood. Magolor turned his attention back to the heart and a shard remained there. A single shard.

Caution overcame him.

"Alright, this is too dangerous to touch, we need to-"

Taranza suddenly appeared from the bushes

"Hey guys, how was the battle? Was it fu-"

The shard resonated. Taranza stopped talking, spotting the small black shard. It levitated for a moment, as if choosing who it will go for. It made its decision, and flew at _Taranza_, pointy bit heading right at the spider.

Taranza turned back and tried to flee, only to be struck and-

Darkness.

* * *

_I'm back here again._

This was different to last time. Last time was memories. This seemed real. It wasn't just flashes, either. It was a well-made environment, with grasslands surrounding the spider wherever he looked. The grass went on for miles and miles with no end.

"Have you come to confess your love?"

"!"

The sudden voice made Taranza jolt, as he turned until his eyes met Sectonia's.

His choice was yes. His gut was telling him to say no. It was making his stomach turn every second he looked at her. His choice wasn't easy. I really wasn't. He may have loved Sectonia back then, but she's dead, and dead is not a place you come back from.

"Secty, I'm sorry, but you're dead… this is an illusion, isn't it?"

Taranza was not falling for this _again_, even if it hurts to do so, refusing Sectonia.

"**Shut up and accept my love, darling.**"

Her voice took a different turn, as Sectonia's body morphed into the 'beauty' she's so obsessed with. Taranza got chills from that.

"**You want **_**me**_**, right? Then accept it."**

"No."

He refused again.

Sectonia grew larger, increasing in size. A gemstone staff appeared in front of her, as she snatched the weapon.

**"lOVe ME, tAraNzA."**

Silence came from the spider. A rapier flew to Sectonia's hands.

**"loVe mE."**

He didn't respond. Another rapier appeared from thin air to aid her.

**"LoVe me!"**

The sky seemingly fell apart, the grass tainted, the sun frozen.

**"lOve mE!"**

Her body turned black, as the environment quickly shifted from grass to a blood-red floor, a darkened sky, and a solar eclipse. The environment just became a nightmare.

Gemstones flew in all directions.

Despite all this, Taranza stood strong, wavering maybe once or twice, but he has moved on.

"I've moved on, Secty. No more of this debauchery can happen in my mind. Cease."

Taranza went on guard.

"**aBsOLuteLy **_**noT**_!"

Sectonia shrieked and charged at Taranza. The spider moved to the right, avoiding the rapier that sliced through the air as he floated up to avoid another swing. As Sectonia flew up too, things were heated.

"Stop it, Secty! You're making this worse for yourself!"

"**liEs!**"

Sectonia teleported around the area, swinging her rapiers all throughout her attacks. Taranza shot some powerful web at her back, as he pummeled the queen with magical attacks, mumbling "Sorry…" all the while.

Sectonai grabbed her staff and smacked the ground, creating a gemstone mountain that flew in all directions. Taranza, caught off-guard, was stabbed and pricked by the crystals appearing from the ground. Blood dripped slightly from his wounds. "Ahah…"

"You don't get to make Sectonia like this, _shard_."

Taranza threw his most powerful attacks at the poor queen, helpless as she was trapped by Taranza's web.

"Because _I_..."

Taranza flew more magical webs, entrapping Sectonia as well as poisoning multiple web balls and threw it into her wounds.

"...will _not_…"

Taranza stepped back as he prepared a massive ball of magic.

"...fall…"

More of his energy was being pumped into this attack. He was getting tired…

"...to…"

...but he had to stay awake, to slay this fake of his friend, his lover, and his comrade for many years!

"...your…"

The attack was ready.

"..._tricks_!"

Taranza shot the attack directly at Sectonia. It was a direct hit, as the explosion that came afterwards singed the queen, blew her to pieces, and threw out a scream unlike any other.

Taranza cringed at her voice, knowing that that was the end, and that he'd done it. Sectonia dissipated with a heart-shaped cloud, floating up in the air. He looked at the cloud, which slowly loses its shape as it went further up. In seconds, it was no more. It was over.

He dropped to his knees as the land shifted once more, returning back to its original appearance.

Flowers bloomed at that moment, as the wind carried them up in the air. Colorful petals strung the air, moving with the wind.

"I love you, Secty, but I've moved on. I'll cherish what we've done together and what you've done for me. Thank you for spending your time with _me_…"

Taranza thought he heard Sectonia respond to his apology, but it must be the wind blowing.

As the landscape faded little by little, the area became much brighter.

Taranza felt a surge of energy overcoming him. '_Must be what Magolor explained,_' he thought, as he felt it fixing his wounds and reducing his tired state into a miniscule portion.

Taranza was shown the power he now possessed; and what Magolor's vision could do, he could help with that, too. He could do more now, help others better.

Triangular shards surrounded him. They were all _his_ memories.

A glimpse of one shard in particular piqued him the most, however. It was him, talking to Sectonia, as they both laugh at whatever his comment was. He smiled at that. Kirby was somewhere in the multiple scene he saw. That was nice. The shard appeared before him. It's black color no longer existed. Instead, it was a pastel pink, nearly white, and it shone like a brilliant light. A name came up. This shard was a part of Jamba. A collective known as the Jamba Heart, from the Jambastion Base.

How did Taranza knew this, he did not know. For all he knew, the shard could've just beamed it to his head. Nevertheless. He'd seen information, and however small it may be, it was still information.

Taranza stood there in silence, absorbing everything the shards told him. After he felt no more of the shard, he looked at the shard, crumbling away, as the dreamscape now shattered, falling like glass.

Taranza breathed in and out. The memory resurfaced.

"I might be small, but what I can do outweighs that, ten times over."

"Really? That's great, Taranza!"

"Secty, it was just dedication! No need to be so encouraging!" A cheery laugh came.

"I've encouraged you all this way, it would be a waste to stop!"

Laughter came from the duo.

Taranza stared back at that memory.

"True… true indeed…"

His vision slowly went black.

* * *

Taranza stirred, as he stood back up, finding himself at Magolor's ship, laid in bed as the night shone upon Popstar with its light.

"You're awake."

Taranza turned to see Magolor, with a worried look on his face.

"I… really thought you're gonna get in trouble again, dammit!"

Magolor was worried, and he was worried sick.

Taranza waved this off.

"I had no problem, Magolor. Just met an old friend, that's all," Taranza smiled, as he propped himself up with a pillow.

Magolor sighed at him.

"Well, if that's good for you, then I won't question it. Stay safe, please. I really don't want to drag you out from that horrendous arachnid form again.. "

Magolor closed the door behind him as he left the room.

Taranza was left alone, in bed, at night. With only the sound of wind to accompany him, he slept peacefully that night.

...

Magolor headed to the control centre of his ship, intent on logging his findings on the dark hearts.

He saw a page open on the screen. The attack info intrigued him. An attack with relation to space-time? Now _that_ was rare on another level. The problem is, it was enough to damage Lor. What were they dealing with here…? A picture showed him what presumably attacked the Lor. It looked like an angel. Magolor frowned at this. A yawn came out of him, which alerted him to how tired he was.

Intent on figuring that out tomorrow, Magolor instead typed his log on the recent findings, spending many hours before he actually went to sleep himself.

…

Susie was sitting on her captain's chair, contemplating how she can contribute. When she saw Taranza fall like a brick with eyes glazed over, she really thought he was heavily injured by the shard, at least mentally. Her help to carry Taranza was not done in vain, as Taranza did calm down after setting him on a bed.

She wondered how things got out of hand so fast, and if she really can handle this or not. A sip of tea from the nearby cup, and she was back into relaxing, except that in reality, she wasn't getting the moment of relaxation at all.

* * *

_**Kabula, Deviled Aircraft**_

_A machine capable of __**modification**_ _and corrupted by the __**power**_ _of the __**Jamba**_ _**Heart**__, Kabula has undergone __**many changes and tweaks**_ _over the years. Even though it may seem like this ship doesn't have a __**mind**__, it in fact does, albeit __**limited**_ _to movement and digestion. As such, it can be considered that this aircraft is __**not**_ _a __**living**_ _being. It can transform into a __**plane**_ _if the outer part, the blimp, is destroyed. As such, its __**maneuverability**_ _extends beyond the original form._

_**Faux Sectonia, False Ruler**_

_"I'd wish I could've gone __**back in time**_ _and helped __**Sectonia**_ _back then. I should've __**repaid**_ _her __**kindness**_ _with my help. I could've done __**more**_ _for her. Too bad that I've made that mistake with __**her**__; a shame that I __**failed**_ _her this bad. Maybe then I'd still have a __**hope**_ _of saving her. However, the past is in the past. What I've done remains __**permanent**__. I've gotten a lot of __**closure**__. And that's __**good enough for me.**__"_

* * *

AN:

Context time!

Last chapter was an omake, a non-canon part of the story made for fun. It was generated from a typo, set in about the middle of chapter 3, when Marx was hiding. Because I found it to be quite funny, I wanted to do an extra where it is not canon and let the characters rest for a bit (although it's not canon) from the boss fights (that are present in nearly every chapter).

Sorry for the confusion when reading that omake, especially when UNO was played or clothes was written. Everywhere. In every corner of that chapter.

Now, on to this chapter.

I wasn't satisfied with Taranza's corruption ending back in chapter 1, so I made another one here with Sectonia for a 99% closure for Taranza.

This chapter mainly focused on the main group, as they really need to get going. Also, Susie's here now! The 'Return to Dreamland' trilogy villains (actually, two of them are side-villains) are here! so that's that.

My word count has been decreasing (slightly) as chapters go on, so this chapter is the trend breaker for that, being about 5k words long. Maybe we can set longer chapters next time.

Kirbzarmon: Definitely the hidden side plot you totally wanted. This must be what the characters do, definitely. It's 100% confirmed! I think.

I should probably stop asking for rate and review, but I probably won't, so rate and review.


	7. Chapter 5 - Iridescent Icelands

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 5 - Iridescent Icelands**

* * *

Light shone into Taranza's temporary room inside the Lor. As Taranza slowly awakens from his slumber, he sat on the bed for quite some time before standing up and exiting the room.

As he exited, he looked around to find the door outside to the deck of the sunlit Starcutter. As he wandered around, he heard Magolor talking to someone down the corridor. It was Bandana Dee, along with a giant crate beside him.

"Yeah... here's the first package…"

"Ah, thanks again… Dedede really helped out this time…"

_Must be the supplies Dedede sent._

Taranza greeted Magolor as he walked to the crate. He stood alongside Magolor as the magician blasted the crate open, revealing a supply of food, water, and a multitude of healing items, along with a letter on top, which Taranza swiped from Magolor's hands.

As the spider opened it up, he took a glance at the paper and mustered the best Dedede accent he could.

"Hey! It's buddy ol' pal Dedede!

Here's the firs' suppla' cra'e I can sen'. Jus' ration 'em and you'll have an abundance of the stuff.

From, 3D."

Taranza finished the letter with a cough.

"I can't do his accent…" Taranza wheesed.

"I'd say you've done a good job," Bandana congratulated, "It was pretty darn close."

"Aha, thanks… I think I'll have some water now…"

Taranza walked past the two and took some water from the crate.

…

The ship moved slightly faster, though not without interruptions as Magolor frequently stopped the Lor to gather more Energy Spheres across the area. It resulted in the ship moving ever so slightly faster every time a new sphere was inserted. By the fifth sphere, Magolor had the ship running at 28% speed, which was still slow, but it was faster compared to when they hadn't found the spheres.

Their total count was at 32 (not all the spheres was lost during Lor's crash), and it was steadily increasing, depending on how quick the ship can take the duo there. Susie was lagging behind, but she stopped longer on certain areas to take some gems the cave had or certain vegetation on different soils.

The two ships flew across the mountaintops as both ships stop briefly for their different tasks.

Magolor went out again, this time with Taranza as they ventured out to find some Energy Spheres. Magolor, knowing where they are, trudged through the snowy alps froze the environment. Cold air blew on the two magicians, providing a chilling aura felt by their nerves. Magolor had picked one sphere up by digging it with his hands, as it had been buried by snow as storms fell and time passes.

"Hhhh… How m-many more?"

"Two."

Taranza was cold, and it was a sensation he did not like. When they rested in a small opening by a cliff, as Magolor lit a fire, Taranza weaved himself an insulative cloth, warming him at least a little bit. Taranza sighed happily; he was now _not_ so cold. Magolor already had his clothing, which provided enough insulation so that he was practically nearly oblivious to the cold.

As the duo went back in, the two energy spheres were still deep in the snow, making it relatively hard to dig them out. Magolor pinpointed the sphere's location, and they walked to the spot. An encounter with magic snowmen or small ice dragons didn't slow their advance either, as the two spheres were collected within the span of a few hours. Now sunset, the alps is going to get _much_ colder, so the two decided to call it a day and headed back to the ship.

* * *

Susie's team scattered around the mountain to find something the Shoppe could sell. They made their profits by selling all sorts of things, and special objects from Popstar might interest customers and net them a huge profit.

The employees stopped at sunset, but the robots kept on searching because they were tasked to search until dawn came.

One particular robot was slowly advancing to a nest, beside a particularly large ice dragon. As it stole the eggs in the night, it came back multiple times to get more, with friends tagging him as he went back and forth. As the trips slowly left evidence and gave out sound, the Ice Dragon woke up from its peaceful sleep to find that her eggs were gone, and a robot was carrying them back somewhere.

The robot turned back, looked at the dragon, and booked it back to Susie's ship. The Ice Dragon followed suit. As the moonlight shone on its scales, it was notable that this Ice Dragon was massively large. Really, really large. It was _gigantic_.

As the dragon followed the robot back to the camp, Taranza and Magolor were already in the Lor, inserting the few Energy Spheres they've got.

A roar came, and Magolor panicked, rushing up to his command centre to find a large Ice Dragon freezing the whole place. It was trying to encase the whole camp in ice. As its frost breath swept across the area, Magolor fired off one of his cannons at the dragon. It bounced off the dragon.

Its head turned, eyes flaring, as the Lor was completely frozen, top to bottom. The dragon continued on its rampage to freeze the civilised beings who she thought were the culprit behind her egg snatching.

A few moments after Lor was frozen, the Ice Dragon met with Susie's ship, and decided to freeze that, too. Once the whole area was encased in an ice block, the dragon sat on top of the structure, trying to find its eggs in the ice. After trying to find its eggs, it eventually slept on the ice's top, planning to continue its search and rescue its unborn children.

* * *

Taranza was in shock as the Lor was completely under ice. As the temperature dropped, he went to his guest room and covered himself with as much insulators as he could find, hoping that morning will provide an escape.

Magolor, on the other hand, was trying to make a drill to break through the ice. He was definitely getting out of here, and if it required to show that dragon who's boss, he would do it.

He clicked the wires together and tapped in the magic battery as the drill whirred to life, spinning in front of an ecstatic Magolor.

"I've gotten it! It works! Gyahaha!"

Magolor headed out to open the deck door to find out it his machine actually drills through ice.

"...or not…"

To his surprise, his drill only managed to dig through a distance as long as his finger. It took him a long time to drill that hole, too. The ice was too thick, and the temperature too cold. By the time when he gave up, it was midnight, and their temporary base was still iced in.

All the people (minus the robots) slept cold that night, as their ships, encased in ice, can't move until they've somehow figured out a solution.

…

Morning shone through the ice, as the temperature rose. Even if it was a slight increase, it's beneficial. Susie's team already started to try and drill out, and Magolor needed to step up his game. He blasted the ice out using his magic, while Taranza (who was woken up a few short minutes later) ended up hauling chunks of ice into the Lor for their water supply.

The noise their attacks on the ice made woke up the dragon. "Groahrrrr!"

The Ice Dragon hopped down the icy block and kicked it to her cave. As the ice tumbled and slid, so did the 'passengers' on board.

Magolor was spinning around by the time the ice block made it to the giant cave.

"Augh… my head…." came Taranza's cry, as he went to Magolor to haul more ice, unsteadily floating to the extrusion Magolor had made.

The Ice Dragon roared once more, and smaller ice dragons came out. They looked at the people trapped in the ice, as they drooled.

Things were not going quite so well; if they didn't do something, they'll become snacks! (well, breakfast)

"We need to do something…"

"Should we just bomb the ice?"

"Yeah… We s-should..."

Magolor prepared a small bomb, as Taranza also readied a projectile in his hands. Together, they threw the bomb, as the wall met web and bomb, sticking the bomb to the wall, providing maximum damage.

As the Ice Dragon started to crunch down on the ice, hoping to snag their new meal, Nagolor and Taranza kept on bombing the walls. Eventually, they've made it to the outer ice, and broke through to the other ice.

A rush of blue dragons flocked them, biting.

"Oh no you don't," Magolor said, as he bombed the baby dragons with the same tactic he and Taranza used on the walls. Needless to say, it was quite effective. Susie's team came out seconds later as they've torched down the ice using a laser. With that lazer, they launched the light at the giant Ice Dragon. It managed to blind the Dragon, who was now sitting down, recoiling from the light. Magolor and Taranza circled around to the mother and flinged their best attack combination at her: a gem apple cannon. Sharp and pointy projectiles, the gem apples provided a nice ammunition to Taranza's mechanical cannon made using tensile web. As the two operated the machine, multiple hits plummeted upon the dragon. It actually pierced through its hide as blood dripped down onto the snow.

The dragon charged at the two, which was obvious enough based on its telltale sign. As it tumbled to the ground, Susie charged her with multiple guns, lazers, and other weapons. It performed multiple cuts and holes on the dragon, but it was not that effective.

The groups circled around the giant dragon, as they battled against the mother and its children, who were very stubborn at getting their snacks.

"You have any gem apples left?" Taranza asked in a hurried manner.

"I can't make more; those were my last supply! I need to create them again!"

Magolor had visited a geometrical planet once, which contained multiple different three-dimensional objects, including gem apples. Magolor took most of the interesting stuff there… Well, robbed it. (The residents gave him permission, but he took a lot)

He cultivated it in a planter, which gave him a good source of food and ammunition, which ran out. The planter only gave him a few apples per harvest, and he was out, so no more gem apples for him at the time being.

As the dragon swerved through the ice, biting through it all the way, it flew to Susie. The whole group noticed a dragon coming at them and avoided it as they continued trying to shoot the Ice Dragon.

* * *

Magolor and Susie were currently exchanging attacks on the dragon, as they bought time for Taranza to do something.

Taranza decided to roam around, unnoticed, and try to find out why the dragon was so angry.

A quick turn to its nest gave him the answer.

Taranza's hand slowly went to his face.

...

"I know what we did!"

"Huh? What did we do?"

Magolor flew around the icy breath. A few shards of ice formed on his left hand. That wasn't good.

"We _might_'ve screwed up, actually!" Taranza yelled from the other side of the cave.

"Yeah, I _know_! What's the cause!?" Magolor returned

"Its nest has no eggs, someone took it! I don't know who, but that enraged the dragon! Some footprints lead from the egg to the mouth of the cave!"

Susie hollered this time. "What shape is the footprint!?"

"It looks like... a circle? Well, more like an oval!" Taranza replied.

"Wait, there's a print here… 'Product of Susie Shoppe…'" Taranza mumbled to himself, as Susie instantly knew what stole eggs based on the footprint alone despite never being there nor hearing Taranza. One of her robots took the eggs. _Shit_.

"Susie, what the hell!?"

"I know, I'm sorry, and I'll find those eggs real quick, just hold them off for a while!" Susie ran past a confused Magolor and an annoyed Taranza as she turned back, shot a couple of lasers, and running to her ship all at the same time.

…

SLAM!

"Alright, which one of you bolts managed to screw up so hard!?"

Susie smashed the door. It is now implanted firmly on the wall.

"Query: WHO TOOK THE EGGS!?" Susie screamt at the robots."

"Answer: What's an **egg**?" All 64 robots responded.

"Oh, for the love of…"

Susie facepalmed at _herself_ for buying this set of machines. _Should've waited for the newer models._

"Query: Who took _multiple_ oval shaped objects!?"

"Answer: I did, chief!" came the enthusiastic voice of three robots.

Ah. Well, well, well...

At least she narrowed it down to three.

"Query: Show me where you've placed them! The storage, or the damned _kitchen_!"

All three robots answered 'kitchen'.

"_Finally_!" Susie dashed off to her kitchen.

The robots waved her goodbye as they entered sleep mode.

…

Susie opened the fridge. Inside were multiple eggs. The most prominent eggs were the ones colored blue and white, much like ice. Susie assumed that this was the eggs Taranza referred to.

She took them out of her fridge and took the elevator to ground floor.

* * *

Taranza was doing fine. In fact, he was doing _great_!

Actually, _no_. He was cold and being chased by an ice dragon with Magolor. Sure, he could probably fight, but a distraction was what they need most. As Taranza and Magolor ran in circles, they spotted Susie carrying about four or five eggs in her hands as she slowly approached the dragon, arms stretched out, holding the eggs like a present.

"Okay, let's not do that again… I'm done with today…"

The Ice Dragon noticed her eggs was being given back, and with an intense glare, carefully scooped her eggs back up. She snorted to the thieves, and permitted them to leave as she went deeper into the cave.

No sooner than five minutes, the dragon came back to offer them five energy spheres. After it laid these on the ground, it turned its back and returned to its peaceful life.

"Ah… I'm dead tired…" Magolor complained.

Either way, he grabbed the dragon's gift.

Taranza stumbled to the Lor, with Magolor right behind him, having small flashbacks to Landia. The dragon was certainly fierce, as is with this one; it's a trait in dragons, Magolor concluded, as he went back in the Lor to continue looking at the damage report back from his crash. He still needed to melt the Lor's ice, too. _What a chore…_

…

Susie took a risk buying those robots from a planetary garage sale, and it was doing fine; mostly. That little blunder with the eggs nearly messed their plan to rescue Kirby. She thought it would be smooth sailing, but all she's done was shoot a gun and get stuck in ice because of one dinky robot.

_Shwoop_-

Her office door swung open. In front of her was… an oddly shaped robot. It seemed too small. It was also carrying something, and Susie was pretty sure she terminated all commands from the robots she had. Why was this one here…?

"Order: Leave."

"Order: **Leave."**

Susie sighed and stepped closer to the 'bot, and examined it.

…

Something glowed purple below the robot. Susie turned her attention to that. The robot raised its metal like some sort of costume, as a circus ball, of all things, popped up. It rolled to her.

As soon as her attention went from the weird 'bot to the ball rolling off to the side, something struck her and shoved something down her mouth, which in turn wriggled inside her, shimmering deep purple all the way-

_pain pain pain pain pain_

She passed out, undergoing the trial of Jamba.

…

_Marx_ got out the costume. He was not in a good mood.

His breath went erratic as he saw her shaking, turning, and reliving a trouble worse than himself.

"I don't want to do this, and yet they push me under the conditions of my life…" His stunt with Flamberge had landed him in this job, with nothing but an unbearable costume, a Jamba heart, and himself.

And now, he was looking at Susie, wanting to go out of the ship already.

With _her_ out of control, he'll have a much easier time setting up what's _next_. At least, that's what Hyness said. As Marx stood there for who knows how long, he finally witnessed the final stages of the Jamba Heart; the crushing pain it will give.

Susie started to hyperventilate, tears forming in her eyes, as her posture slowly changed to a fetal position.

Marx noted this change, which was his task, as he was being watched. Always watched. He can't purposely fail, or he'll suffer a terrible fate. In any case, it's irreversible now, and he prayed to the other two to beat the Jamba Heart. He swiftly moved into the sunset, flying all the way.

* * *

…

It was black. All was black. Everywhere she went, all was dark. The sky blended with the floor. The floor had already been black, which made navigation even worse. It went on for ages, for miles to no end.

She had no sense of time. No sense of space. No smell. No color. No taste of the black apple on an equally black tree. The void was absolute nil, a torture that can ruin millions under pressure.

It starts with guilt, or maybe uncertainty, or pressure. It greatly amplifies these things, and combined with crucial memory, it can devastate someone. A strategy that will always work.

…

A spark of an old memory surfaced to Susie's brain.

Susie was deep in it. Her father made things worse. She was angry at him, yes, but he was still a father. He'd gone crazy, yes, but he's still a father to her. And family is important in the vast, empty expanse of space.

* * *

"Come on, Susanna. You've got it!" Mom cheered on. I didn't know how to beat these other guys, but if I had an advantage, my intuition would be it. As I raced my friends across the hill, my father stepped on by, as he farmed his share of crops with our neighbour. It was a good day, I think.

Maybe Jonas would want to play with me again.

…

Black, shiny liquid. It just came bursting out of the ground. Father has made his own well now; but it wasn't for drinking. Oh no, it was for money! Turns out this really sold well amongst countries. It's a race between all the countries to get this new, shiny cash cow! I think, that's the word, anyways. 'Cash Cow.'

Dad was really happy when he found that black water. He was swimming in it! I laughed at that. He looked so silly! Mother didn't seem too happy. I wonder why. Maybe it's because she didn't like the water?

How could anyone _not_ like the water, anyways? It's making dad happy, and so I should be happy too!

…

Bickering occured between my parents. Dad was wearing a business suit now, saying that we should make as much money as we can during this oil craze, as the experts call it.

Mother wanted to keep our lives simple, to keep us grounded to our poor ways.

What sort of mother is she!? A one who doesn't strive for advancement in technology and economy!?

I'm pissed off at my own mother. I shouldn't do this. She's done so much for me. I just wish that she could understand dad's views. It could make us rich! It could help us become a better family! Why keep living with uncomfortable things when we can afford new ones?

…

Dad just hit gold. He was selling _gold_ now. We were filthy rich! Mom contested dad. She went off in her own path. I followed dad, of course. Who doesn't want money?

We kept on living the luxurious life, while mom went back to our old house and stayed there.

I really wish that mom and dad could get together again, but with her irrational thought process, I don't think we could do it.

…

Father bought a spaceship. We're setting off tomorrow. I can't wait.

The day has come. I'm ready! As the multiple robot employees came into the ship, I noticed that I was the only one who wasn't a robot. As dad signed on the robots and myself, I encountered my mother, who was watching the launch along with dad's friends. She gave me a handkerchief to keep tidy.

As soon as I went on the ship, I trashed her gift in the nearest bin.

…

We landed on a planet! It was lush and green. I was a secretary now! I had plenty of training for the rest of the 'Haltmann Company', as I like to call it. We even have an anthem of sorts! I tried to approach my boss, my dad.

"Hey, uh… dad?"

"Yes, Ms. Secretary?"

I thought of this as his formal way of addressing me.

Following that sentence, I gave my report. He took the papers, and we went our separate ways. We didn't even look at each other, I kept trying to look at him, but it seemed like he was too focused on something…

…

He's just made a grave mistake. Father; no, Max "Profitt" Haltmann just left me. He left me, 'on accident', as he said, on a volcanic planet. He'd found the Star Dream… and completely forgot about his own daughter!

I'll need to survive… in order to see him again. I can't lose faith… He will come for me!

…

The ship came. It was spherical now. It only took him a day to come and pick me up… And I greeted him as I walked past him.

"Oh, hello there, dad."

"...Dad? Young lady, you must know that I don't have any daughters at all. I had a wife, yes, but no daughter. Well, uh…"

He stumbled slightly at my name.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Who were you again?"

My heart cracked. One day, I've been deserted. The next, completely forgotten. I need my revenge… for this poor excuse of a father.

"My name is Susie, and I'm your secretary, Mr. Haltmann."

"Oh. Sorry for my blunder."

He went off on his levitating chair.

I was angry, and angry at him and his company.

…

Every day, it was about money. Money, money, money. I am about to punch this man, but I have to stick to the plan…

…

We've arrived to Popstar.

…

My chance has come. Pinky has defeated Haltmann's robot; which means that as soon as he steps into the Star Dream, I can pull off his helmet controller.

There he goes.

Never have my heart beat in such intensity.

Three...

Two…

One...

GO!

I nabbed it!

I paid no attention to father's screams nor his words as I placed the controller on my head. Now… I want my family back together, please!

The Star Dream fired its laser at me. I was knocked unconscious. When I woke up, this native was standing over me, and I commanded him to destroy Star Dream. I knew it was no good, which is why I had a backup plan. The original ship is completely fixed by now, and I'll pack everything into the ship. The robots, sadly I can't save, but I'll find new ones. I fled off the Access Ark as the ball rose up with Star Dream on top. I fled.

…

A return to home will do.

I didn't visit this place at all during the years my father spent building his wealth.

I looked inside my old home. Inside was nobody. Apparently, my mother killed herself when father launched his ship. Her body was still hanging as I stepped in the door. I fell into shock as my mother's handkerchief, which I had carelessly thrown away all those years ago, was her final gift for me.

I cried for her.

…

Jonas had a girlfriend now. Both of them didn't recognise me. So, I pretended I didn't too.

…

With nowhere to go and no purpose in life, I started to build wealth again. I don't think I can live without it. Money was important, but family is, too.

_My_ ship flew across space, visiting planets I now remember and travel to.

* * *

"You were supposed to help me, _Susanna_…"

Mother was in front of me. My breathing was erratic. I can't calm down.

Flashes to her suicide came back. It felt _worse_.

"I gave you my final message… and you **trashed** it."

"I raised you from a child so that you can become a good woman, **not this**."

"You're a **failure**, Susie."

"I can't even call you **Susanna** anymore."

"I'm **dead** because of you."

I had no reason. This was the one loose thread in what I thought I had buried nearly a year ago.

Her comments flooded my brain. I wanted to cry. Cry, and never come here again. I was proposed an offer. Let _it_ inside my heart. I'll never feel pain again.

* * *

The night went on smoothly. No interruptions at all. Well, it went pretty smooth up until the crack of dawn.

_CRACK_!

"What the-" Magolor jolted awake, as he had fallen asleep on his control desk a few hours before.

A door slammed at the end of the ship, with Taranza up and ready, yet he still looked like he was dead, based on the expression on his face.

"What now..?"

"I don't know… let me check…"

Lor's screen showed Susie's ship sliced cleanly in half, with a giant robot standing on top of the ship. Outside the ship were panicking employees, running for their lives as a giant robot shaped much like… Susie?

"Oh."

"What?" Taranza peered over Magolor's shoulder. "Amazing! It's a giant robot!"

"Alright, I'm going to have to pilot this like a battleship again…"

As soon as Magolor started steering the Lor, Taranza hurried up the deck.

Standing on the floor with wind blowing in his face, he closed the door behind him and started to strategize as Magolor veered around the robot's torso.

As he circled the robot's torso, he noticed that with each step it makes, it has to really struggle.

_Must be really heavy…_

_Heavy…_?

"Taranza, knock it down somehow!" Magolor yelled through the intercom, as Taranza started to get going on his 'knocking the robot down' idea.

The simplest solution was a piece of rope.

However, Taranza still needs a mechanism to attach the rope to the mech without him being unable to grab it. As such, he began spinning a long strand of magic rope.

He balled one of the ends with a weight inside, creating some sort of 'rock slingshot', but without a tool to throw, he was going to sling the ball outside _with_ wind _blowing on him_ in the _crack of dawn _as the sun rose up.

Normally, sane people would probably consider how the wind will potentially affect the ball. Or how you shouldn't even throw at that dark of an hour. And maybe have some second doubts about fighting a giant robot.

Too bad _this_ was 'normal' for Taranza now.

With a long piece of rope, he bolted down to where Magolor's at.

As the door from the deck slid open, Taranza stuck his head in and commanded Magolor.

"Steer the ship near the robot, I can pull it down!"

"Yeah, got it!"

The ship slowly turned closer to the robot. As Taranza waited for his moment, his heart started beating faster. He needs to land this shot…

Like a lasso.

Taranza swung the ball part in a circle, making it gain momentum.

_And… come on…_

Taranza saw its leg off the ground.

Perfect.

Taranza aimed at the lifted leg and threw his shot. The rope was actually long enough for Taranza to start pulling. As he attached the web to the mast, Lor Starcutter was suddenly halted.

Job done, Taranza headed back to Magolor as the magician started to fly away with a robot in tow.

Unable to keep its balance, the robot crashed to the ground. With its materials being too heavy, it could not stand up anymore.

"Strike target Face Susie…"

Magolor pressed enter on the console log. His star cannon fired at the Susie robot.

All of them hit. The robot's outer exterior wriggled for a bit before it shut down.

Taranza flopped to the ground. "Phew…nice battle… I'm gonna go check the damage..." he sighed, as he went down to check on Susie.

* * *

Taranza went out of the cruising starship as he entered the robot using his own method: 'blasting a hole'.

As the spider lowered himself down to the impact the robot made by falling down, he knocked on the robot a few times before turning around and started to walk back.

_Hiss… crumble crumble…_

Sounds came from the robot.

Taranza turned back at the robot to see what the commotion was.

Taranza's eyes widened as something burst out of the metal shell.

He was clocked in the head with a metal knee, sending him off to the world of dreams.

Taranza went out cold as the new, smaller robot, rampaged through the landscape around him.

It had somehow tore through the cold, hard metal exterior. The robot was shaped like a Metal General, a round robot capable of many tasks, but it had no pilot on the mech, leaving the question of whose actions was the robot enacting?

As Taranza laid on the burnt soil, the robot headed for the Lor Starcutter.

…

Magolor landed Lor. He hadn't heard from Taranza in a while, which was odd. He said he was going to check… but did 'checking' really take that long?

Clank.

CLANK.

Clank.

CLANK!

The ship shook, and rose on its own. Did something hit the ship?

Magolor viewed the cameras again to see a smaller robot pounding the hull.

"Oh boy…"

The robot jumped a high amount as it landed on the Lor, making the ship recalibrate itself.

Magolor slammed the deck door open as he had his magic in hand, which he threw a homing ball at the robot the instant it was ready.

An explosion was heard, and a small dent formed as the robot rained bullets on Magolor.

He propped up a green forcefield around him, as the magic held against the rapid-fire madness ongoing right in front of him.

As he looked around for any sign of his partner, he didn't see the arachnid at all.

"Where's Taranza!?"

* * *

_**Ice Dragon, Protective Mother**_

_Not wanting to __**cause any trouble**__, this is just a caring mother whose __**eggs**_ _were unlawfully __**stolen**_ _by Susie's __**robot**_ _who accidentally __**stumbled**_ _upon its eggs. With her eggs gone, she will __**find**_ _the __**perpetrators**_ _and __**get**_ _her eggs back, even if she stands no chance. Its large body allows it to do heavy attacks, but she prefers her icy breath. Her __**breath**_ _encases its victims and enemies __**in ice**__, for the rest of her children to then __**eat**__. It's __**isolated**_ _itself, but people still __**manage**_ _to find a __**way**_ _to her __**cave**_…

* * *

AN:

Ice Dragon is the same one from the one Kirby fought. It's gone and raised a family!

I intended for Susie's corruption (in her POV) to be a seperate_ bonus_ chapter, but I didn't want to litter the fic with _bonus this, bonus that_. I'll do them occasionally, but I'd rather_ not_ this time.

Taranza's out cold, Marx did something, and Magolor is holding out against Susie. We have a lot of people today trying to screw each other up.

Opinion: Do you like the boss battles? Would you rather have less of it?

I'll probably remove my plead for rates and reviews for future chapters after this one. It seemed too needy and kind of annoying to ask your readers for stuff. At least, that's where I stand, currently. All past chapter will have not have their pleads removed, as of this time.

Also, I was going to post this the day before, but my internet decided 'noooooope'.

icanwrite13: Susie sends her regards.

Kirbzarmon: Thank goodness I nailed that part. At least, I think so. My chapters are filled to the brim with fight after fight, it started to look like a boxing ring!

rachael. : Thanks! The team have some personalities that mesh alot… like Taranza and Magolor. I hoped I differentiated them enough...


	8. Chapter 6 - Neural Nexus

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 6 - Neural Nexus**

* * *

"Where's Taranza!?" Magolor yelled to the robot, as he slammed his free hand to the ground, making magic projectiles shoot out to the 'bot he was fighting.

His other hand was still holding his shield, and because of that, his attacks aren't that effective compared to the thunder and rain the robot dealt.

Magolor scowled at his situation, and started to close in on the robot as an advantage, as he edged ever closer to the firing mecha.

Slowly but surely, his shield slowly whittled down by gunfire.

_This is going to be dumb…_

…

Magolor ran for his life to the machine, one hand holding his now barely functional shield and what looks like a much stronger attack on his other hand. As the 'bot started to step back to keep some distance, Magolor _jumped_ in order to close the distance, as the robot stopped shooting.

Unfortunately, he forgot that he was in a _moving_ ship. The robot stopped to deliver a punch to Magolor.

The winds were quite strong, too, at that height.

The ship turned and sped, and with the knockback from the 'bot, this leaves Magolor no time to react as he swung backwards to try and—

_**Clang!**_

Metal shuddered as Magolor caught on to the Lor's deck railings, his shield now completely out, with his attack now at its peak.

That _certainly_ was risky, and his chest was _definitely _pounding.

"Hhhh…."

_That _had been _way_ too close for comfort. Sure, he could probably float down, but he wasn't sure the robot would allow him to just float there unimpeded.

In fact, the rain of bullets still continued as Magolor hung on the edge of the railing.

It's a wonder how no bullets have hit him yet.

_Wait, that wasn't a jin-_

Pain shot through his fingers.

Magolor screeched in pain as his hand was demolished by a well placed shot. He was currently hanging on the Lor with one hand.

_Ah, screw it. I'm taking another risk._

Magolor looked ahead of the Lor, and tried to visualise the path it'll take.

And then… Magolor was gone, not even a trace of him left on that railing, except for his blood.

The robot walked around to search for Magolor, kicking doors open as he goes.

* * *

The searing pain shooting through Magolor right now was terrible.

He managed to _at least _bandage his hand, but it was out of commission for the next few days or so… unless he could get quick healing, which is rare in most cases.

The robot kicked open more doors out on the deck as Magolor prepared his ship's controls on the ready.

_I really hope this works…_

Magolor flipped his ship a full 180 degrees upside down.

The robot fell, and Magolor turned his ship upright again.

The robot managed to stay on the hull with its physique, but it had managed to land on top of a cannon, which Magolor wanted.

This was his chance.

"Full power, maximum charge…."

The power output went nuts.

As the robot climbed ever closer to the top, Magolor shot his star cannon.

_Whung...!_

The robot was sent to the ground with tonnes of star power. A crater formed around the robot as it crash landed on the wintry lands below.

…

CRASH!

Taranza woke up.

Looked around him to see a ruined landscape.

"Shit…" Taranza swore as he looked around for a sign of life.

_That crash sound earlier might help…_

Taranza _ran_ as he tried to pinpoint the location of the crash, trying to locate his way back to 'lor. Thankfully, lights were a big help.

Taranza raced off to the distance.

…

Sooner than usual, he made his way back to find Magolor panting, his hand bandaged, and himself walking to the robot in an evenly calm pace.

Taranza approached the wizard.

"Hey, sorry I'm late…"

"Where were you, actually?" Magolor stopped.

"I was knocked out, mate! This robot," Taranza pointed, "managed to knock me out!"

"Well that explains why you took so long to get here…"

Taranza directed his eyes to Magolor's shot hand.

"What happened to your hand?"

"Shot by _this_ piece of trash." Magolor commented, kicking the robot as he said so.

"Well, we'll be fine on the fighting department."

"If you sa-"

_Whirr…_

The robot's hatch opened to reveal an awake Susie in the pilot seat.

This Susie, however, looked down and mopey, her eyes glazed over, wearing a helmet attached to a billion wires leading back to the robot.

"Uh...hi?" Taranza greeted.

"I don't think she's here to say hi," Magolor quipped, as he took on a battle stance.

In response, Susie moved erratically, as she shot her blaster at the duo. It looked like it was a puppet show, with an extremely realistic doll being the main focus. Susie's arms were quite literally connected to the helmet and her legs were too. She was a living puppet.

"Well, why don't we-mffff!"

Susie threw cash at Magolor's face. As Magolor tried to remove the accursed paper now all over his face, Susie delivered a punch straight between his eyes. Taranza jumped in to help, but was shot in the thigh with Susie's laser pistol. It didn't faze Taranza as he went on and dragged Magolor off some few meters.

With that, both magicians held their respective sore spots and pushed on. "Hupla!" Taranza presented mid-battle.

Taranza made a directional trampoline. As he enticed Magolor to come and shoot at the mirror-like web, Magolor did so, and now Taranza is sending attacks from a safe location (namely, the surrounding rocks or trees). His mirror were angled enough to hit Susie.

As the two pummeled the iron menace using their witchcraft, the robot spoke.

...

_"Don't continue in this journey." _Susie's eyes flared purplish-black as she stopped for a second to deliver that message.

"What?" This was new. Magolor expressed shock as his past experience told him nothing of communication. It looked like she was corrupted too; shouldn't she _not_ be able to talk, based on Kirby's account?

_"Terrible fate awaits you by the name of the __**heart**__. Do not progress further_."

"How about _no thanks_!?" Taranza answered, firing multiple web shots.

_"Unacceptable. This is a warning. Do not progress."_

_Yeah, no._

This was the consensus that Magolor and Taranza both came up with.

…

As both continued their battle, they noticed Susie wasn't falling down or taking any damage. Past attacks did not bruise nor draw blood from her.

She was completely unfazed by Taranza and Magolor's attacks!

Confusion rolled in.

"Is she just brushing those off or does she have invincibility?"

"No, I think we're doing something wrong here…"

Susie kept on attacking the duo, leaving no time for thoughts as they were forced back into a battle.

Rockets started flying from the robot behind Susie, though it lay immobile against the dirt. The flying missiles shot at their targets, as Magolor dived for cover and Taranza kept on firing, despite all the guns aimed at them.

"I'm going to shoot a black hole at her!"

Taranza whirled his head to Magolor. "You're gonna WHAT!?"

Magolor readied the spell with his one hand.

_astral stars high above return all to_ _**nil**__-_

Magolor's hands (both shot and in working condition) glowed purple as he threw the pocket-sized black hole.

Taranza evacuated the area as best as he could, trying to get behind the robot.

The black hole expanded and ate away the bullets and rockets, and Magolor closed the hole a second later, fainting in the process.

The black hole dissipated into purple mist, as Taranza jumped on the robot behind Susie and webbed up the exit points of its guns. Susie aimed her guns at Taranza. One shot nailed one of his hands, but he ignored it as another long web pieced together at his remaining hands and slung Susie into the robot with a smack, effectively creating a webbed prison for the two entities who now couldn't do anything.

Taranza huffed as he stared at Magolor's hands, still glowing purple.

"What attack was _that_…?"

* * *

Magolor returned to his mind's solace as he stepped onto the floor of his ship.

Another Magolor came, wispy as one could look, as they both sat on a chair.

The two started arguing.

"I _had _to use that branch of magic!"

Magolor slammed his hand on the paper-filled desk, as he held one up.

"That magic is forbidden! It's the same one _they're_ using!"

"I know, so that's why I'm researching them! So that _we_ can gain advantage over Jamba!"

Multiple papers have something written on them. On closer inspection, they all wrote of one thing; a purple heart foretold to awaken on use. Of course, they were all cryptic, which didn't help Magolor at all.

The other Magolor's face turned upside down, revealing an overly large eye staring back at Magolor.

"Look, Jamba _will_ come, and we can't prevent that. Kirby _needs_ to _kill_ the damn thing, and they took Kirby!"

"_They're_ playing it too safe… And Kirby's crucial here… So we plan now, but can we _not_ use the same magic they're using!? It doesn't feel right…"

Magolor sighed, as he stood up.

"I'll _try_, **soul**. I can't guarantee it, but I'll try."

Magolor exits the copy of his ship to the cold snow outside.

"No. _We'll_ try. We did some good together, after all."

The other Magolor went back as he focused his attention to the faux ship's panels and papers strung around the room.

* * *

Taranza has been standing over the robot for what seems like hours now. The sun had risen up; the day begun; and Taranza was already tired after the bullet hell Susie threw at him.

Magolor was still out cold, too. That didn't help with things, especially when his hands started to glow purple like when _he_ was possessed with the dark heart, spewing that crazy attack…

Susie was still tied to the metal shell, as he stood watch over the machine looking at Susie, who returned his gaze with the same expression he saw before. He had no idea how to dismantle the corruption this time. '_The best option would be to get Magolor to help… if he's still there,' _Taranza planned, as he started daydreaming, looking at the clouds as Susie's employees exited the company ship and started to look at their boss tied up beside a new robot they did not recognise.

Murmurs started to ring across the field.

"This does not look good for our company…"

"The boss looks like she's gone a full day without sleep!"

"This spider is trying to do something to her!" One particular employee assumed.

_Magolor, wake up now, _please_. I can handle multiple foes, but not office workers._

…

_Ah, there he is._

Taranza stepped down from his position to Magolor as the egg stirred.

"That went well…"

Taranza shook Magolor.

"What magic was that? Seriously?" Taranza asked, worried.

"The same type of magic our enemies use. Corruption."

"I was worried, dude!" Taranza yelled. "What are your worrying for? It's harmless, just requires a lot of power. It's the most dubious type of magic, so I can see your point…" Magolor brushed it off with this long explanation.

Taranza did not get his explanation. He wasn't _that_ versed into magic. His worry comes from his concern for Magolor's safety during this "corruption" magic, worried that he'll fall victim like the dark heart victims. It glowed the same purple and black as did the hearts, after all.

…

"Anyways… you've handled it while I was asleep, right? Nice job, by the way."

Susie, who was still stuck to the metal, didn't react.

"Yeah, about that... " Taranza started, "I don't actually know how to remove the corruption.

"What do you mean? Didn't it exit from the victim like usual?"

"Uh, well, here's the fun part. No. I didn't want to compromise Susie as well, so here we are."

Magolor took a glance at Susie, who still had glazed eyes.

"Time to get working, I suppose."

Magolor climbed on top of the metal and started to look at the wires from Susie's head to the robot itself.

It was a complicated mess.

Taranza, who saw even Magolor struggling at the mess of cables. "Right!" Taranza pointed to the crowd of employees. "Who's good at wiring, electricity, _and_ all the general sciency stuff!?"

A few people raised their hands. "Help this nerd here do this puzzle!"

The few technicians or so in Susie's crew stepped up to help Magolor.

Magolor opened the Metal General up, as Taranza removed the web in that location.

Inside was a bigger jumble of wire. One particular thing though, was that this time, it formed a core around something. Something acted as a power source, and removing that would help. He had a guess as to what actually is covered by the wires down there.

"Right, we are going to remove the inside wires, but be careful; there's some dark magic in there, and it may do something to you. I'd rather not risk touching it," Magolor warned, as he dove in the 'bot to untangle the wire mess. The technicians decided to leave that to Magolor as they worked on the surface wires.

* * *

Susie was still in the deep dark as her emotions amplified to a thousand, exerting pressure to her as she crumbled down with memories around her. A cloud of hope lingers in her mind, and even though she was in hell right now, and that cloud must be somewhere.

Even if pain shot at her from all angles as her mind breaks down during the first part.

Her mind focused down on one thing as dark surrounded her in every direction.

_Crumble._

"An exit…"

There was a door.

Not that big of a door, but it had some interesting features.

This door cracked and crumbled under some sort of imaginary weight. Susie ran towards the door. It was a red door, with a winged heart emblem embezzled on its face. The door had multiple cracks on it.

_flashes of her parents enticing her to give up_

Susie tried to pull out a gun, which didn't appear on her person.

_Fun._

The door cracked _more_, and light shone through the holes of the cracks.

Susie stared at this. _What sort of sad rescue is this!?_

_it isn't a rescue, it's your demise_

She decided to break out herself.

_**NO**_

Pain shot through her head. Memories flooded her head, amplified to crush her. She fell to the ground, struggling to crawl to the door. It was even worse now. Before, it was simple, constant pain. Now, it was devastatingly painful, almost like the first one, back when her family was shown.

The spark lit a fire that the corruption takes good note of, and then bombards her with emotion until she can't handle it anymore, like a bottle spilling its contents when filled to the brim.

The pain kept her down as the door slowly cracked more, allowing more light to pass through.

She kept pushing on. She approached the door and leaned against it, allowing the door to move slightly. As the door cracked further, the ease to be pushed on increased.

Another crack allowed the door to move slightly more.

A single push yielded her more space to go through.

Soon, the door opened under the cracks, and it fell like leaves once Susie was through.

The mental pain slowly disappeared. Memories came back like normal. She turned back to the darkness. Multiple pictures crowded the entry.

Newer ones crowded her in the light, as she watched video after video of the same events, but told in a completely different manner.

Her mother was caring. Her father cared, and still cared even after Star Dream became his obsession.

Their smiling faces etched on Susie's mind.

...

All she saw of the memories back there _were_ exaggerations. They didn't happen at all. It was like a bad dream.

Flashes of true events bounced inside her head, as they circled around Susie.

Susie gave it a thought for a moment.

She wanted to show the old man a lesson, yes, but by using her mother as a prompt?

_I don't really get that. Mother was kind to her even before I left for the planets to be with her dad_. _Even until she died, she still loved me._

_Even dad was still nice to me before Star Dream ruined him. He still remembered, just too entranced by the machination that was Star Dream to care._

_I suppose I was just caught up in the moment. That immense feeling I felt wasn't just coincidence, too..._

Looking back at it, it may have jerked an emotion or two, unprepared to see those settings again, to see her dead parents again. It was awkward, maybe the slightest bit teary eyed.

But that was enough for whatever took hold of her to exploit the small emotional state she went through for that split second, times a thousand.

Enough to make her fall under the spell of… whatever she was forced to eat, to forget reason.

…

Well, it might've also come from her dad's obsession of furthering his company… which undoubtedly got passed down to her...

She might've been a tad bit heavy on gathering money… but isn't that the point of a company? To give products and receive pay?

Her company isn't going to crash, and she'll get out!

She giggled, having just thought of that. Eventually, it died down. Susie returned to her normal, serious self.

What matters now is that she managed to get out of _that_ hellhole. Now, where's the exit…?

_Oh._

A mass of strings made a barrier to an even stronger light.

It looked like cables, actually.

Thos cables are slowly being stripped away from the door, rearranging themselves as the different colors connected to different ports.

A puzzling situation.

…

She had to get closer. Figure out this mess.

There were different color ports, which the cables are connected to, and different colored wires, which correspond to the ports.

It wasn't hard to put two and two together.

Susie tried to move a cable herself, which she connected to the same color port.

She did the same on the other side.

The cable disappeared from her view, as she placed the jack into the same color.

Bingo.

* * *

The technicians and electricians were still struggling. Magolor had a headache now, trying to unjumble the wires. Taranza brought them refreshments every now and then, as he played support to the team of puzzlers.

"Wait, it's rearranging itself," one of the electricians said, as he dropped down the robot.

"What?" The others took a look.

True to the electrician's word, the cable floated, and connected to a different port. All without his input.

At least, that's the outside wire.

Magolor checked back at the inside.

It was still a giant ball.

"Well, at least we don't have to do two…"

Magolor took a look back at the rearrangement of the wires outside. They all correspond to the same color port.

Magolor noticed this, and he started trying to unjumble the inside, when all of a sudden, the wires inside the robot exploded, leaving a small, dark heart inside the robot, clattering in the metal.

The metal itself slowly went away, and Magolor warned the people to step away from the site, as he himself stood up and brushed off the dust from his person.

Unlike last time, what if he doesn't destroy it…?

* * *

Susie had been going at this puzzle for quite a while. She just had to connect the last few lines and…

The last wire was gone, and Susie ran towards the now blinding light.

As she stirred, she thought she heard some sort of explosion happening in the background.

Grass and web greeted her as her eyes opened back up.

"Welcome back to the real world!" Magolor shouted from a safe distance away. Taranza smiled at her.

"Get me out of here already!"

"Alright, fine, fine…" Taranza volunteered, as he walked to Susie and untied her.

The heart laid there untouched as the two went a good distance away. The heart suddenly floated up, this time not cracked, just… blinking heavily.

It rose into the air and flew towards a seemingly random direction. Magolor took note of this. Jumped in joy, as he had finally found a good lead again.

With direction noted and the team back, Magolor headed back to the Lor as they begin to set sail, following the speeding heart, now unseen by the travellers.

* * *

The Lor had been going at it for hours. Magolor was fast asleep, and so was Taranza. They do need their rest, after all.

Taranza could not sleep. He was wide awake. Thus, he decided to entertain himself by snooping around Magolor's things.

As he looked at Magolor's possessions, his papers and notes were the most interesting things Taranza viewed.

Filed on a cabinet near where Magolor slept is the papers once scattered about the landscape where Magolor talked to himself. Of course, Taranza did not know that, and began to read.

The musty papers tells a story.

It told of a story where a long lost civilization revered a god.

A story which quickly turns dark.

This god was named Termina.

It was he who caused destruction in the multiple worlds he rampaged through, uncontrollable.

He spread bloodshed in those planets, who turned empty once he was done. Word was, he threw a moon so hard it broke the planet's core and froze the planet completely. This became known as Shiver Star.

Termina's rampage would continue for another few thousand years until the civilization enacted upon a seal which sealed him inside the Jamba heart, a powerful seal based on care and love for one another.

Termina turned this around when he was sealed, corrupting the heart from inside out. Fearing more trouble, the ancients chipped off the heart into shards and carefully stowed them away.

The heart's pieces was said to be able to piece together the Jamba heart back together and produce more corruption on its own.

A couple of notes lay where "corruption" was mentioned.

Magolor had been studying his magic seriously ever since his betrayal, and he is at least knowledgeable in the study.

To find the word corruption in the story was not good.

Magolor's notes wrote a detailed description of the corruption.

"Corruption is the branch of magic wherein suggestion, emotion, and amplification of mental or physical power are generally used. It can lay waste to both mental and physical health.

Your feelings, however small they may be, might be enough to incapacitate you and make you vulnerable to suggestion.

Suggestion can make your body do things it would not do. Change it with powerful or different entities. It can amplify, yet rid you of control as you become a spectator to their little show.

The best way to counter this is to already have resolution. To have closure is the best medicine for this. If you are unaffected, though you may be in shock for a few milliseconds when the transition of magic hits you, you will see logic or at least be able to fight back."

This note lay upon the old paper, locked behind a cabinet. It was what Magolor initially learned, yes, but he had not delved deeper until Kirby beat some sense to him.

To find '_void'_ in the study of this magic was not comforting.

It mentioned everything Magolor now knows about Jamba, however.

It was a goldmine of information they needed.

Taranza returned the papers back to its original place. He now knew what they were facing.

Jamba.

Taranza went back to his room and tried to sleep after he finished a quick read of the collection of passages.

* * *

Susie sat in her office, making changes and plans to the company's views and policy.

She decided to not only make products for profit, but to also give the public useful things at a cheaper price.

It might hurt their stock and economy for a bit, but they'll make it.

As for the company policy…

Susie was having trouble on that one.

She had based it off her father's company. Well, one or two rules…

She wasn't really a rule_maker_. More of a rule_breaker_. She rebelled against her dad, and tried to steal Star Dream. That went _amazing_. She still remembered Pinky knocking her father out from that golden robot.

Well, policy's still changing.

"Ah! What about…"

Susie went back into writing ideas, and finalizing them on paper.

The employees were mostly happy at this new change in their boss as she presented her new plan the next day. The robots… were deactivated, so they weren't happy at all. Susie was going to invest in new ones, and that'll help with her plans for the future!

* * *

The two ships sailed across the sky for another few days or so. As they began their routines of stopping for things, Magolor managed to get more Energy Spheres back to the ship. It involved bees… with spears!

Thankfully, the bees weren't hostile, and they happily handed Magolor the spheres in exchange for some new, sharper spears.

They had all ten of the spheres in the area now, and Magolor didn't sense anymore using his vision and the ship's radar (Magolor had installed one), so they stopped less. Susie's still stopped more, but they're going for recreational purposes now.

Somehow, Bandana was still able to send them supplies every week or so, but this time in a smaller crate.

It contained less, too.

"It was for convenience!" he said, as King Dedede had not known where they are and decided to send his team up the mountain to find the ship.

It was cold, half wet, and the dees did not get good pay. So, they protested, having to carry a giant box up the mountain.

Dedede opted for a smaller box instead, sending his troops up the mountain… again.

As the environment slowly turned from icy mountains to a small canyon, the ships docked at this new environment.

Susie's employees took another breath of fresh air as they walked on the soil and sand.

Magolor was still cooped up in researching (and healing his shot hand), as Taranza went outside to enjoy the sun.

Susie was also doing her work… outside. It wasn't practical, but she still got her job done. She had been revising the company's mission and vision, as she asked for opinions from her employees. It was a collaborative task; everyone pitched in at least one idea.

Taranza sat down on the edge of a small cliff the ships were docked to and he enjoyed the breeze the wind gave him.

Nature was kind today, proven by the clear skies, calm wind, and a warm sun.

_Sectonia would've enjoyed this._

Taranza imagined how she would react to this breath-taking view, high up in the canyon top, sitting by the edge, and admiring the sight.

It was another break day, and he'll enjoy it to its fullest.

* * *

A few days after the incident, they were back in tip top shape.

Rest did indeed help their troubles after all, and relaxation was the exact medicine Magolor and Taranza needed to recuperate from the past week or so. The fights have been getting to both of them…

Susie was still lounging, thinking of improvements to her now much better company. Breaks were more often, and it seemed to encourage the employees more, so why not?

Overall, the team had been going great, bathing in the sun and watching the view of the massive ridges and canyons with a shining sunset just below the horizon.

Rest was a good thing.

Taranza was currently doing it, sleeping on the warm rock of the cliff.

Magolor even stopped locking himself in the Lor and enjoyed the morning sun today.

_This was one interesting day, for sure._

Magolor looked across the canyon, over to the other side.

Their ships had been docked by the canyon cliffs for a long while now; should they move it again?

They hadn't been making progress on actually eliminating Jamba Hearts, after all.

"I want more holidays…" Magolor groaned as he reluctantly headed back to the Starcutter and began advancing across the land once more.

"Oh? We're moving?" Susie noticed. "Pack your things! We're heading for a wild ride!"

Susie's ship also followed.

…

Taranza had been asleep on the cliff rock. He was also now left behind.

As he woke up from his nap, he noticed a lack of ships in his area.

"Guys?"

"Don't tell me you've left me again…"

* * *

One embarrassing mistake and turn-around later, Taranza was back on ship, irate at Magolor.

"I'm sorry…"

"Yeah, I know.. but could you _not_ leave me this time!?"

Taranza sighed.

"Fine, fine…" His mood bounced back. "So! Where we heading?"

"Actually, I'm just scouting…"

Magolor pointed to the ship's map, as he began searching for notable things.

"What about this circle thing?"

Taranza pointed out a strange structure at the map. It was a circle. Well, more of an oval…

"Looks like a ruin of some sort," Taranza noted by it's corroded sides.

"Miiight be interesting… let's make a pit stop then?"

"Dude, it's _your_ ship."

Magolor beeped through the intercom.

"We're heading to a circular structure! Just follow me!"

His intercom was loud. Very loud.

It was also quite good at ship-to-ship communication.

Susie heard that message loud and clear.

The two ships headed to the circular ruin.

Upon landing, it was not just a circular ruin. It was, in fact, a colosseum. A very large colosseum. On the very edge of the building, lay a stone tablet investigated by the curious travellers.

_"The two knights of valor will fight here. Prepare your swords." _Magolor read the tablet with ease. Only three came into this colosseum today, and that was _them_. Who was the "two"?

Magolor had a few guesses.

…

Susie wondered for a moment. What could this mean? She had looked at the tablet itself, written in modern language, and yet it seemed as old as the ruin itself.

Very mysterious.

Taranza already looked shaken by the tablet itself, as if he knew what is going to happen.

Maybe it had some clue? Two knights...

_rumble rumble crack rumble_

All three turned around at the ground rumbling on the centre of the colosseum.

The earth shattered as the two knights rose behind them. Two dark hearts rising up as well. Seems like the one from a few days ago joined the group too, as one of them is noticeably larger compared to the other.

The ship-dwellers stood on guard.

* * *

_**Susie EX, Lost Mind**_

Affected by the **power** of the **Jamba** **Heart**, she falls to the mass **amplification** of memory alteration, and due to past events, have had her mind connected to a **robot** from that era. She **resisted** the hold of this **temptation** enough to not fall completely, and thus needed to be **controlled** **by** the heart **directly** for her to willingly **attack** others. In truth,truth she has half buried her past with her father and had no qualms with her mother, but these **moments** were **isolated** as she fell to the dark heart.

* * *

AN:

Conclusion to Susie. Next up, _two_ knights!

Didn't want to make a Taranza _copy_, so I decided to go with this route instead.

General knowledge of Jamba is _finally_ given, and so I can reference this piece when I fail to deliver on the dark heart moments.

Pretty nice chapter, I'd say.

My naming tendencies will probably affect chapter names once I find a good word.

Other than that, I'd like to thank the critiques and comments, people gave me, as well as the faves and follows.

icanwrite13: People need some help once in a while. Even Magolor. Also, thanks for your feedback on the bosses!

Kirbzarmon: Hm. Interesting to take note of. I'd rather have the group take on a fun time anyways… too bad the world's going to end, so fights are unavoidable. I'll just need to tweak my approach to bosses.

rachael. : Hey, thanks! Hyness is doing just fine. Very peachy.

Winterdargon: I'm not that well versed into Planet Robobot, actually. I suppose I did mess up slightly last chapter, but hopefully this chapter covers that mishap. Thanks for the info! I'll try to get my writing better as time goes on.


	9. Chapter 7 - Dark Destruction

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 7 - Dark Destruction**

* * *

The colosseum rattled and shook as the ground below cracked. Canyon dust blew with the wind as two strikingly similar figures rose up from the ground.

The two knights told in the tablet were here. They were covered in the dark of the colosseum, as they flew quickly into the shadows. However, one knight was much more pronounced than the other. Another thing that came out of the ground was also a sword. Taranza picked that up, interested in it.

The ceiling where the two knights fell under.

Magolor readied his spell, as Taranza fumbled around with his support (and a sword). Susie just took out her blaster and shot the first attack immediately at this obvious knight.

To her surprise, what came out to fight her was a sort of… _paladin_? It had white armor with pink accents, wielding an ungodly large rapier or lance. Who cares about its weapon anyway? All she knew was that this guy is an enemy!

The second knight flew right by the first as he landed on the floor.

Susie's eyes widened. She knew this person.

* * *

"Meta Knight's here… and who's that?"

"No idea, mate," Taranza responded as he swung the sword around, aiming its pointy edge at the two sword-wielding men.

The two magician stood guard at the back, preparing their spell (in Taranza's case, on his five off-hands) whilst the knights watched all three of them.

Meta Knight had been obvious, due to the 'M' on his shoulder, but this new guy was really mysterious!

His wings were as white as that of an angel's, while Meta Knight had his iconic black wings. They seemed like a duo of opposites.

"Meta Knight! And… Undark Meta Knight!" Taranza yelled at the two opponents.

"Let's be friends!"

The two responded by flinging sword beams at the other duo.

"Alright then, no friends today…"

Taranza shot some magic web at the winged knights as he built his new plan of attack with Magolor.

Susie took a much easier strategy instead, using her blaster to shoot at the moving targets. They all missed with the knights' incredible speed, going here and there in a blink of an eye.

"You're _missing_! Amazing!" Taranza stopped to congratulate her.

"Ah, shut up Taranza!"

…

Her next shot landed. The knight just shrugged it off by reflecting it back with his shiny armor.

_'They reflect lasers? What kind of armor is _that_?'_

No time for questions, Susie rolled right and began to keep on trying to rapid-fire her blaster, which resulted in heat.

Her gun overheated. _Shit_. Susie dropped the million degree weapon.

…

"Guys, I'm gonna run back to the ships to get more guns, so hang tight alright?"

"Don't just up and leave-"

Susie was gone.

_Well, that sucked._

"Alright Taranza, plan B!"

* * *

Plan B included them trying to set up a magic missile directed to the white knight.

It was a somewhat crude 'cannon'. It had a net of web as a way of launching their projectiles at the knights. It also had a barrel, which is the 'cannon' part. "It counts, you know!" Taranza laughed as he took two knights at once, though he was mostly focused on the rapid slashes Meta Knight swung at him. In other words, it was a glorified slingshot.

Magolor loaded his magic missile into the 'cannon' and proceeded to pull on the web, releasing it like a slingshot.

WHAM!

"...what sort of defense is _that_?"

It hit him square in the face, but the mask held such a protection against the attack that it manages to readily reflect the projectile. It's one of _those_ bosses. The ones who just tank attacks to no end or mirrors them back to the opponent.

Magolor loaded another ammunition and fired that.

It became much clearer that this knight is _that_ type of boss after his second try when their missile was brushed off by this white knight's attack.

He quite literally let it brushed it off to the side using his weapon. It was a show of power, and it looked like the knight was winning.

As Taranza moved on to also dueling with Meta Knight, Magolor kept the missiles running as he loaded projectiles onto the barrel, slinging the webbed net as fast as his hands would allow him.

He had to move the cannon and dodge attacks, too. It seemed like this white knight preferred ranged attacks… He couldn't get him to do melee at all!

Magolor looked over to his left and saw Taranza playing a game of dodge with Meta Knight.

…

Taranza narrowly avoided Meta Knight's swoops and sudden slashes as he tried to do one-on-one melee with Meta Knight. He already tried to hit Meta Knight from far away, but the knight's multiple sword beams forced him to reconsider.

Now, he's currently trying to get a hit in, which Meta Knight parried ferociously, serving as an extra attack for Taranza to avoid as he danced on the colosseum floor.

A swing, dodge, and-

Taranza flipped forward to deliver some magic into this annoying knight. It struck home, but Taranza was quickly struck back by the trained swordsman. Taranza flipped his sword around and tried to stab Meta Knight, he got a slice in, but Meta Knight also swung at him, so he retreated after that first strike.

"What a speed demon…Eh?"

His slice cut deeper than he expected. Might Meta Knight's build actually be a 'glass cannon', where his attacks are high and he has an overall low defense? With his agile speed and quick thinking in most cases, his build of skills did make sense.

That meant that his attack can deal a lot of damage!

Taranza's got his attack plan now.

Taranza looked over to Magolor to see how he's doing.

Magolor was chanting, purple aura beneath him as he held his hands up in a prayer.

Taranza turned back to his opponent to see that Meta Knight also stopped fighting, looking at Magolor.

"Well, this'll be easy."

Taranza sliced off his mask in one, clean cut through the middle.

He backed off after seeing Meta Knight's face.

"Kirby?"

Meta Knight turned from Taranza to Meta Knight as his eyes widened. His body collapsed onto the ground.

Meta Knight went into some sort of sleep mode.

Well, that went well. He looked back over to Magolor and saw a giant, two-horned monster standing in his place with a petrified opponent right in front of him, ready to attack until whatever happened _just_ happened.

This was confusing and scary at the same time.

Taranza hollered.

"What the hell!?"

* * *

Magolor had never been better. The raw power he had was ecstasy! It had been like when he had the crown, but less corrupt than that, now that he had a strong will.

Time to beat this white knight up.

Magolor flung blue-ish energy at the white knight. He parried the ball after stumbling slightly at his stupor, and began a game of tennis between the two.

Magolor batted the ball like crazy, pummeling his attack into the knight. Magolor smiled at that, his mouth forming a crescent.

It had formed a dent on the knight's armor.

_"Alright, see? Easy peasy, Magolor!"_

"I would rather appreciate it if we didn't use this magic. It scares people."

Magolor was also having a casual conversation with himself as he shot around attack at his enemy.

"You know I don't like using _soul_. It's tiring, and I don't have the best memories of the word…

After all, this form was what nearly endangered Kirby back then.

_"It's powerful too, so it's _amazing! _Look at all these controls!"_

"Please stop trying to use my body like a toy."

"All I do is watch from the sidelines! Let me have some fun once in a while!" The other Magolor pouted.

"Fine…" Magolor groaned at this request. He really _was_ being cautious. At least he can communicate this time rather than being completely overtaken. He could supervise…

"Oi, don't fling the black hole, you know that'll take a lot of energy from me-!"

A black hole manifested itself, threatening to drag in the injured knight.

* * *

Susie brought with her a multitude of guns. There's a bazooka, a revolver, and a lot of spare blasters.

It had taken her a few minutes to pick and sort, but finally, she can come and help!

A black hole was currently in the arena.

Taranza had stepped off to the side as the hole opened and closed within milliseconds, ensuring that it will only pull on Magolor's target.

"Oh, hey. Remember that blimp which we fought?"

Susie nodded.

"Yeah, _that_ is him," Taranza pointed at the blue mass. Susie raised her eyebrow. "...but even crazier. I don't even know what's happening at this point…"

Susie glanced at what looked like a brave knight fighting a massive demon.

With no context, it really looked like the one she should be rooting for is the white knight.

"Right, right, so… what can we do?"

"We can sit here and wait!"

"Lovely."

* * *

_"Whee!"_

"Hey, slow down!"

Magolor was trying to calm his _soul_ down as his body rampaged on the poor man in white.

_"Ooo! What about this?"_

Magolor delivered a slash to the knight's face. His mask split in half after all the battering it took.

_"Uh… it's not my fault, so goodbye!"_

"Hey, wait-"

Magolor was dragged back by an invisible force as he was tugged back to the safety on his body, back to his old self with what seems like a sleeping knight in front of him.

"Phew…"

Clapping came from his side.

"Bravo! You've managed to turn into a monster."

"That was my soul form."

"I didn't know your _soul_ could be _that_ ferocious," Taranza commented.

"Well, it might've been altered by some plot I did back then… Eheheheh…"

Magolor laughed awkwardly as the knight beside him twitched.

"Anyways… you brought Meta?"

Taranza had brought Meta Knight near the white knight too. "Of course."

The two knights were now bound up in Taranza's web.

"So… what'll we do?"

Susie mumbled for a bit before voicing her opinion.

"I can rip their armor pieces off and sell them!"

"No. I don't think they'll appreciate that."

"Aww…"

"How abo-" Magolor prompted, before getting interrupted by darkness.

Meta Knight was unbound, his sword in hand, as he sliced Magolor in the dark.

The white knight targeted Taranza instead, sensing the biggest threat on him.

He swung his weapon so hard that it managed to take out Taranza. It was a solid hit to his head.

Two of their biggest fighters are down, having made the mistake of not confiscating their opponents weapons.

It was a dumb moment shared by the two.

Magolor fell down as soon as Meta Knight's cape went back behind him.

Susie was left alone as she saw the two maskless knight float up into the air, their eyes devoid of emotion.

A chain linked up between them, linking Meta Knight's left hand with the white knight's right hand. The white knight switched his weapon to his off-hand. Now flaring with purple mist all around, they began to circle around in the air.

With their respective weapons ready in hand, they charged together to Susie, who already had her stock of guns in a pile beside her.

She fired like a madman.

* * *

Taranza woke up in a strange place. It was beside the Dreamstalk, with his house right beside him, as he slowly stood on the soft grass. A nearly identical spider sat on the Dreamstalk's lowest leaf, humming to herself as she gazed off to the sun.

Taranza turned his head, and he saw this girl. "Sectonia?"

_"What? Sectonia? You know she's dead, right?"_

Ouch.

"Well, who are _you _then?"

The spider hopped down from her perch.

_"I am the __**soul**__. The one who guides as a sub-conscious and one who you may be deep inside. The way I appear is quite strange, really… I thought you left Sectonia after that airship fiasco?"_

Taranza's soul answered, questioning her own appearance. After all, Taranza had already gotten closure. Why did his soul appear like this? Taranza put one of his hands on his chin as he thought of the question.

"Well, we're still really close friends. It might explain why my own soul looks like my best friend."

_"Yeah…" _Taranza's soul nodded. She decided to move on to another topic. _"So, you know about that monster Magolor turned to?"_

"What about it?"

_"I can turn you into one, though I haven't seen its appearance myself… In short, it's your soul form. The form when your body reaches critical overflow of spirit… or you force it out by negotiating with your own soul."_

"Soul form, huh…"

Taranza did not want to turn into whatever Magolor was. But, he's pretty sure that he's knocked out anyway, and Susie's left alone on the colosseum. Crap.

_I'll have to chance it…_

"Can I use this soul form then?"

A swift reply came back.

_"You could, but I'll need recompensation…"_

He'll have to pay his own soul back?

"...such as?"

_"I get to play around for a while- oh, maybe you can come talk to me! It's dreadfully boring in here, and it's the first time I've met you."_

Taranza wasn't sure if this was double personality or it was literally his soul. His soul had a completely different personality and appearance, how could he be sure? Paranoia kicked in.

"How will I be sure that you are my soul?" Taranza questioned.

"Oh, simple!" She smiled. "We're both linked. Here." She raised her left hand. In an instant, a nearly invisible white line sped from his soul to Taranza himself.

As he moved around, the line followed, as if he was tied to it.

Seems like good proof. She sounds truthful, too.

_I'll really chance it…_

Taranza thanked her for her confirmation and went on to discuss his soul form.

"What limitations are there on my… well… _soul_ form?"

_"Don't push it too far. You can take more damage, yes, but sometimes I don't even know what can happen to your abilities. The only constant thing i know is that your power in magic will be increased."_

_Gee, very helpful._

_"You know I can hear those, right? I just choose not to comment on them."_

_Wait, fu-_

Taranza swore as his soul laughed at him. _"Don't worry about it! I'm just messing with you! I won't abuse them!" His soul then wished him luck, as she gave her final advice. "Now then, get back out there and pummel some knights!"_

Taranza was whisked off to the waking world. His soul went back to the bottom of the stalk, this time singing as she basked in the warm light. Her power was currently being tapped into, yes, but she didn't mind that much. She was being repaid, after all.

* * *

Taranza woke up for real this time, to see Magolor still on the ground as he looked around for any signs of battle. Before he could even help however, he looked down upon himself to see the physical changes of his soul form.

His body was somewhat matching that of a moth.

_Well_.

This reminded him slightly of Sectonia's other form and the giant spider he turned into.

So… is there a power boost?

Taranza tried to form his web.

Web did not appear.

Instead, what came was a ball of light, shimmering brilliantly.

Taranza smiled and shot the shining light.

The white knight noticed the attack, and veered right, avoiding Susie's shots and the light at the same time. As the ball travelled and the white knight flew off, Meta Knight was dragged himself by the chain linking both knights together.

Unprepared, and with incredible chance, the ball hit Meta Knight, who was being dragged up by his cohort unintentionally.

The blast flung Meta Knight so hard that the chain broke.

He crashed onto the colosseum wall as the white knight dove for Taranza. Susie turned to Meta Knight, as she turned her focus to the valiant knight.

Meta Knight blasted off the wall into the air, as his sword began to take a different color. His weapon burst out fire and that ignited quickly as he swung the sword to his right.

A verdant green flame began encompassing the blade, enveloping the entirety of the Galaxia as the green pyre enlarged his sword. It stayed on there as Meta Knight began swinging his sword like crazy, dashing to Susie. The battle was getting pretty heated (literally).

Meta Knight swung his sword once more in a full rotation, sending green fireballs all over the area.

It rained pyre.

Taranza had his new wings burned by the fire. Susie jumped into her weapon pile as her weapons were busted under the rain. It was chaotic.

Meta Knight, however, forgot that his ally would also be hit by his rain of fire.

The green flame lashed out, affected by gravity, as it turned into bullet hell.

The white and purple Knight tried to dodge as best as he could, but the numbers of the attack were astounding; some of the flames managed to hit the white knight.

Taranza, still on fire, _screeched_, as the fire never went out. He collapsed due to the intense heat and sustained damage, reverting back to his spider form.

A peek of blue eyes came from the weapons pile.

Susie, hidden under her stacks of guns, safely came out and started firing again.

Taking a quick look to Magolor and Taranza, Susie sighed.

"Why are these guys so _incompetent_?" Susie wondered aloud, as the two magicians were passed out, and yet she was not.

She started her bullets up on the white knight again. As soon as she started, the knight stopped. Bravo. A still target. Susie fired as she kept her attention to Meta's flame attacks.

The white knight held his rapier/lance up above his shoulder, not raising it vertically. It looked like he was about to throw the damn thing.

As he raised his weapon, he was knocked _himself_ by a dark pulse of magic. Susie turned to her right.

Magolor was standing, albeit shakily, but still. He was awake.

_'So he _wasn't _useless after all!'_

Susie did a small celebratory dance as she went off guard. Then, she stopped, just to make sure she wasn't about to be attacked. She directed her eyes to Meta Knight. He stood still.

Then, he fell out of the air, landing on the ground as he coughed up half of a dark heart. His mask already broken, Meta's eyes returned back to its original color. Magolor approached the dark knight.

Susie promptly slapped and snapped at him. "You forgot to take off their weapons! Their _weapons_!" she ranted to the surprised magician.

"It was a mistake… Taranza's at fault too…" Magolor pointed out, as he gave a half-baked apology.

"I know, but he's unconscious right now…"

Magolor nodded, as a white flash came speeding back at him. "Look out!"

Magolor took his magic and smashed the knight's body.

He recoiled back, before shouting with some sort of medieval accent.

"Oi, ye' natives! I'm tryin' ta' have a good time competition with me mate, and ye' cometh here and ruin my show!?"

Magolor was really apologetic now.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry…"

Susie was even more pissed. "So you say sorry to this stranger but you won't even give me a straight sorry?"

"I said _sorry_, woman!"

* * *

Galacta Knight, as his name turned out, was summoned into Dreamland. He had just been broken out of his crystal, eager for another fight, when some sort of ball with a floppy hat shoved something through his mask. He'd collapsed after that.

"So… you're in friendly competition with Meta Knight here?" Magolor pointed to the knight on the ground.

"Well, I may have contesteth with this man, yes."

"Okay then…"

Susie went off to pick up Taranza while he chit-chatted with the time-space knight.

"Can you give me a detailed past with Meta here?"

"Well, he wished for I when Nova was heah, and thus, I came."

"Okay…."

_This guy is weird!_

In the distance, on the ruined colosseum, was Susie, dragging the spider as she returned back to Magolor. It looked like she was swearing at Taranza, actually. Might've been a bad idea to leave those two alone…

_Anyway, the heart's still there, half broken…_

_Where's the other half?_

"Do you happen to know where the other half of whatever you spat out is, actually?"

"Hm? Thou do naught know? I did see that, yes…"

So, the other half is on the edge of the colosseum, then.

Nice.

"Okay then sir… Please stay here, alright?"

"Yes, yes, _child of dark_, I will stay…"

Magolor rushed back to his ship to begin the extraction procedure of this Jamba heart piece. Hopefully, it'll stay there…

This is why he needed to be quick!

As Magolor took his safety precaution gear, Taranza was slowly aroused by an irate Susie.

"Finally! Took you long enough, Taranza…"

"What happened?"

"_Shit_ happened, that's what!"

"We beat it?"

Susie directed Taranza's vision to the two knights on the arena, not fighting. She was furiously pointing at them, as Taranza looked head on.

"Ah. I see."

Taranza collapses again as soon as those three words came out, fatigue oppressing him, sending him back to unconsciousness.

"Come on! Don't just up and collapse on me! I don't want to carry you myself back to our camp!"

…

Magolor exited the Lor with a bottle. Bottles were the best containers, after all. It's a wide known fact. Perfect for the dark hearts he was about to scoop.

He edged to the small crater his blast left in the wall. A small half of the heart lay nearby. He slowly scooped it up using his hand as he felt _pain_ _sorrow guilt anger hatred malice-_

Into the bottle.

Magolor was out of breath already.

The next one, then. He prepared a second bottle for a reason.

As he approached the knights, he saw Meta stood up, staggering all the while. A brief exchange was done.

"Hey."

"You again?"

"Yeah. _Me_ again."

Meta Knight ended it there. He began looking around for his mask.

Magolor scooped up his next half of the Jamba Heart as Meta Knight found his split mask.

"So. I assume you helped me and Galacta be free of the curse?"

As Magolor cringed on the onslaught of emotion, he answered a small "Yeah."

"Well, thanks. Seriously. I'll be off now." Meta Knight turned to Galacta. "We'll fight some other time. Postpone it, I don't know. Go enjoy Dreamland, or something. That seal might come get you again."

"Yah, yah, ye brave knight. Go back to yer ship."

After this brief exchange of words between rivals, the two knights headed off in separate directions, Meta Knight off to find Halberd, and Galacta exiting the colosseum to wander Dreamland, as Meta Knight had suggested.

Magolor stood there, wondering what just happened.

_Huh._

_What a weird _friend _Meta's got._

* * *

Magolor secured the two bottles and headed back to his ship. Taranza already laid in his bed as Susie grumpily exited as the captain of the Lor stepped in. She passed him with a small comment or two, but it was tiring, and they needed rest. At least, this time, they'll have a longer break time…

"Hffff…." Magolor flopped to his comfy bed as he stored the dark hearts on his shelf. There were multiple complications this day, but it all worked out. He'll need to get started on _that_ soon…

Magolor pondered for a while before falling asleep, notes littering the bed as he collapsed himself.

…

Susie was wide awake. She's finally got a final draft of her now full-step plan, and her company will be in better shape than before. With her expeditions during in between the chaos, she had gathered a lot of valuable things, like gemstones from that one cave, fruit native to Dreamland, and quite a lot more.

She was set in sail for her Shoppe's future. A photo of her family sat on her desk. She glanced at it for a while, as if remembering the good values her parents had taught her long ago.

A good few minutes passed. Susie stood up from her seat and decided that now would be a good time to sleep. She locked the door of her office (yes, her ship now has more security!) and went to her personal room. In there, as the moon shone on her through the reinforced glass her windows were made out of, she gazed off into the moon, as fell asleep soon after.

All was well. The canyon silent, sans a few critters around the cliff. No one was outside. Peace was here, in this area, right now.

Over in the icy mountains, the dragon lay calm, against her newly hatched sons and daughters as she herself stood watch over them, protecting them at all cost. The moonlight beamed down on the mouth of the cave, a stable source of light for the dragons. That was enough for them.

…

Meta Knight stood among his crew in his conquered Halberd. After finding the Halberd tucked away behind the colosseum with his generals tied and his troops locked, he set sail his battleship once more to scout the planet in search for villainous threats and potential assets.

"Hey, sire?"

Meta Knight turned to his second-in-command.

"Yes?"

"We're approaching the target. The _rat_."

Meta Knight nodded.

"Good, good. He'll be a valuable asset for those who'll travel in the sea."

A moment passed.

"We'll need all of Dreamland if we hope to defeat the treachery that is the corruption I've experienced…"

…

Galacta Knight approached a large castle on the hills as he entered the town stood in front of it.

"Hey, Meta Knight's got a new look!" one of the townspeople said, a Waddle Dee.

"Really? Where?"

A crowd formed, with Galacta in its centre.

…

"Wha's tha' noise!?"

"That would be the Waddle Dees circling a knight of some sort," Bandana Waddle Dee jokingly responded.

"Huh?"

Dedede ran for the nearest window, thinking that Bandana was serious. His eyes looked long and hard, but he found it. It may be a tiny speck down there, but the knight was obvious enough to spot.

"Wait, is it actually…?" Bandana also took a look, squinting his eyes as he did so. "Hm, what do you know. There _is_ a knight down there."

"I'll go n' meet 'im."

…

Galacta Knight was crowded by the Waddle Dees, half wishing that _maybe_ he could send them to outer space. It was getting annoying.

Too bad Meta told him about the 'we don't randomly attack here' rule. Took him a while to get that, but he's had practice since then.

As he traversed the sea of Dees, a fat penguin on royal robes approached the crowd. As the Dees split, allowing this penguin to cross, Galacta enquired. "Who art thou?"

"The name is the 3D; King Dedede. Pleas're to mee' you, bra'e knight from uh… Anytown!" Dedede pronounced himself, greeting Galacta.

"The greatest of welcomes to you too, king." Galacta bowed.

"Uh..." Dedede was unfamiliar with this situation. He'd never had a subject _bow_ to him like this before…!

"Well… be at e'se, and com' into my castl'. I can invite you to our suppe'."

"Very well."

Galacta Knight flew to the castle doors. King Dedede followed, eager to discuss details and exchange stories with this mysterious knight!

* * *

_**Meta Knight & Galacta Knight, Knighted Swordmasters**_

_Two very different __**knights**__, they have a __**somewhat**_ _good __**rapport**_ _with each other, as they have both __**fought each other**_ _on multiple occasions throughout the multiple incidents on Dreamland. Both __**corrupted**_ _by the __**Jamba Heart**__, they have now been __**chained**_ _together as __**one**__, and have gained astounding abilities, extending their __**mastery of the blade**_ _even further as they attack. While __**Meta Knight**_ _seemed to love to __**melee**__, __**Galacta**_ _prefers to fight in __**range**__, instead. These two __**complement**_ _each other, covering for any weaknesses their opponents might have. Unfortunately, Meta Knight switched tactic mid-fight, __**screwing off**_ _their perfect __**coordination**__._

* * *

AN:

Finally, this chapter is over! See how the chapter names line up now? It's amazing!

So, yeah. Galacta's here, plus Meta Knight. Also, the soul stuff and that one mention of 'child of dark' will hopefully play a better role in future chapters. I would love to expand more on the plot and lore of this story.

First true use of soul in this chapter, an alternate form given by a manifestation of your soul. In the case of Magolor, due to *_ahem_* natural progression in his soul, his form is the one from RtD, just… you know.

For Taranza, I wanted his to mimic Sectonia slightly, and debated whether I'd use his Dark Taranza shtick (Clash Deluxe) or I'd go with a moth. It ended up being a moth, due to his personality. It also has some resemblance to Sectonia's bee form, I suppose. His moth form looks like a moth with Taranza's horns and a pair of giant white wings, just to counter Sectonia's color scheme. His abdomen has some faint black stripes going horizontally around him.

Also, _rat's_ gonna come into play here. That's nice. Next 'world' (in Kirby game context) will be a break from traditional 'arena style boss rush mode extra hard no plot lol' style.

Again, thank you to the supporters of this fic, and I'll see you all in the next chapter.

icanwrite13: Breaks are nice, especially when situations turn hectic. This is properly shown in the multiple break scenes, where they just have a small bit of fun here and there. The world's not all doom and gloom, after all.

rachael. : Hm. Lore… We got masked knights here now, so that's nice… Thanks for the compliment!


	10. EX - Blind HEART, Dull MIND

**Star's Allies**

**Extra - Blind HEART, Dull MIND**

* * *

Marx was back in the base. He had just been teleported in after he forced the half hearts into the knights. He had another chance to form a plan… and to hope that they won't be paying as much attention to him compared to the captive pink puffball.

In front of him was a pleased Hyness. "Good jester, yes? You've done well. Er, what was your name again…? I know Flamberge and Francisca, with… uh… Zat Parmesan, and the sacrifice… but can you tell Hyness your name?"

A long sigh. Play it out like you're used to it. "It's Marx."

"Hum… Mark, eh? Very well, Mark. You did good job today. Hyness pleased."

"Ah, alright, I see. Mind if I head on my way now?"

"Sure, sure… Byebye!"

_Old hag._

Marx bounced his way to Kirby's cell. As he peeked through the window, he noticed that Francisca was in, seemingly conversing with Kirby, who had a smile…?

_I thought this is a captor and hostage situation, not some sort of old-time friend stuff._

* * *

"So… I managed to hop off the ship… and flew into the wings of the mechanical beast… Right as I encountered multiple enemies in my path!"

Francisca followed, as she listened to Kirby's story.

"And then… the captain, a valiant knight, swooped in and offered me a battle! I was like, 'Seriously, again?' because at this point…"

Kirby kept on telling the story of when the puffball sank the Halberd into the ocean.

"So the knight fought you, Kirb?" Francisca asked.

"Well, yeah!" Kirby smiled. "He swooped down with his wings, and we dueled!"

"But, he's a friend too, right?"

"Of course he's a friend!" Kirby confirmed, laughing slightly. Francisca giggled at that too.

Kirby changed the topic as she shifted

"Have I ever told you of the time when I went on a journey against the pirates for some cake?"

"Oooh… a cake story! Please tell me!"

The two went on like friends should be.

Marx witnessed this as he peeked through the glass.

_Maybe I should leave Kirby to it for today._

He instead left the cell door and went back to his room.

Door open, door closed.

In the room now.

Some of the room had been… well… torched. Worry began to slip into his face. He checked the piece of clockwork hidden in his desk. Still there.

A desire to talk to himself came over him. "No, no… not now… Not _that_ form again…"

By this time, he had known the feeling, suppressing it under his multiple false masks. He did not want to turn into the abomination in space, the one who split open black holes, split in half as an attack, and eventually sliced in half.

As he stopped the pressure enacted by his soul, he took a look down memory lane as he did so, pushing against the _soul_ every step of the way.

* * *

Space. A vast, lonely expanse filled with nothing. One might say that it is a beauty, but all Marx saw it as was his graveyard.

His soul was split in half. It was confusing and very uncomfortable, an alien experience he did back when his lust for power reached its climax.

_"Well, I want to control Planet Popstar!"_

Oh, how those words backfired on him.

As soon as Kirby blew his soul to hell, he had smashed back into Nova.

…

"nOoOooOoOooO!"

Marx flew as he split in two towards the galactic body, Nova.

The pain was immeasurable. In a sudden, your nerves light on fire, and pain was all you can feel until your nerves are gone.

_I'm gonna die i'm gonna die i'm gonna die help help help help help_

"last_wish granted; saving-grace"

_What?_

Marx looked around him, a chain of clockwork as he did so. Light flared around him as he was encased in the machine. He made no more sound as Nova exploded, leaving a small circle of debris lying around, floating forever in space.

Nova had saved his life, by creating an eternal prison for him. Marx was trapped, unable to move, and even if he did move, he was sure that space would kill him. He was content being in this tiny space, healing, blocked from all harm as he remembered, reminisced, and cried.

His power was too strong. He was too greedy. All of these things added up. He was ashamed of himself.

First for failing at world conquest, the next for betraying a friend he'd made.

_"Hey, can you stop the sun and moon from fighting?"_

Maybe he really should have built an honest personality.

He pondered this in that day, losing sense of time as all he saw was the wall of Nova's remains. A year has passed. At least, that's what Marx thought. He'd gotten over it, at least partially. He somehow didn't need food at all, discovered on week 1. Thus, his time was dedicated on practicing his skills, and trying to at least be nice. Keep his wit and cunning personality, but not backstab everyone he sees, just as an advantage to a goal.

The endless cycle was just starting. Ponder, do something, sleep. The cycle repeats. It got boring, quick. Marx entertained himself. He was doing well. He had acquired many masks, many personalities to hide in, all to mask his weakest self; his soul, his body, and who he once was.

A feeling of power, a feeling of calm rushed over him. How long was it now? He had lost the urge to conquer Popstar… that's funny.

His soul urged him to go, to use this power for his conquest, but no. Marx was done. He failed, and he'll never do it again. He had gotten his resolution, and that's fair to him.

He was a selfish, greedy bastard, taking Nova's wish for himself. With no way to reverse this, he had kept the gift for ages. Funny, how Nova's wishes work. When he asked to conquer Popstar, the machine gave him the power needed. When he required protection, he was encased in a small prison.

It was wish-granting in a whole nother level. Nova gave the way, but never fulfilled the bearer's wishes.

Marx chuckled at the dawn of this realization.

Nova was faulty.

"Ah… too bad I can't undo the damage… wonder what'll happen to Kirby if _he_ manages to make his wish…?"

Would the sun and moon cease to exist?

Or would the sun and moon become still, never to move again?

Nova's wishes has a weird way of granting it to its wishers.

Maybe he somehow saved Kirby when he took the faulty wishes for himself, by chance?

_Don't push it, Marx. Kirby was a good friend._

"Shut up, soul."

_I am you. You are me. Shouldn't we have the same opinion?_

"You tried to conquer Popstar. I'm the pure one here."

_You're playing it this way. Alright. I see. Well, you'll be pure no longer…_

"What?"

CRASH!

"What th-"

The prison thrashed around, as Marx rolled on the spinning mass of clockwork. He was being pulled somewhere. Or was it pushed?

He didn't even know at this point.

As the clockwork kept spinning, he soon went black after gravity suddenly turned on, taking him by surprise.

* * *

"Yes… yes… the child of tricksters has come… After months of searching…! Kekeke!"

Hyness approached the clockwork ball, along with the mage sisters.

"Hyness, you sure this is the guy?"

"Oh, I'm very sure, Zan Part… Parm…"

"Partizanne."

"Partizanne! Of course I'm sure."

Zan Partizanne cocked her head. "Well. You're confident today," she mumbled as she lead her other sisters to the ball of clockwork.

"A crack here… another there…"

Hyness kept on smashing the clockwork from the outside using multiple methods.

"Ooh! Zanne, whazzat?"

"Fran, that's A PRISON!"

"Huh?"

Partizanne went on to entertain her fellow sister as Flamberge help Hyness, trying to earn the cult leader's worth.

"And… there we are!"

The prison shattered. In its place lay a small ball with shoes and an oversized jester hat.

"Is he alive, Zanne?"

"YES! I think."

To prove her point, Marx woke up and tried to stand up.

"Ngh…. _who_ are you…? _What_ are you?"

Hyness offered a hand.

"Hello. My name is Hyness, Leader of Jamba. Pleased to meet you. Now, come with us, child of tricksters."

Hyness turned and walked in the opposite direction. The sisters followed.

Marx, confused, simply walked with them as they travelled to the Jambastion base.

…

"Welcome to Jambastion Base. This is our home. Enjoy yourself here while you can, child of tricksters."

"Cut the child of-" A cough came from Marx. "-tricksters, my name is Marx, not some child of bullshit."

Francisca heard that. "Child of bullshit? Flam, what does that mean…?"

Flamberge was steaming red. "Marx! ...or whatever your name is, I don't care; DON'T SWEAR IN FRONT OF FRAN!"

Francisca gasped. "Wait, that was a swear? Is that true, Zanne?"

"Yes," Partizanne calmly replied.

A long "Ah" of understanding came from Francisca. "So, 'bullshit' is a bad word?"

"Yes!" Flamberge insisted, as Marx had kept his mouth shut after that.

"Right, so this'll be your room."

Without notice, Hyness had toured him into his apparently new room.

As he looked at the facilities, he promptly swung his bed and fell asleep.

Flamberge went in to scold him some more, but Hyness stopped her.

"He needs his rest."

Flamberge grumbled as the four left, leaving Marx in the base. As he tossed and turned, Marx coughed up a piece of clockwork, ticking, ticking, ticking…

His dreams were filled with ticks and tocks, as he floated in the middle of nowhere, facing Nova.

"hello_world protocol initiated."

"Uh…."

"expository_mode activate."

_What?_

"Hello. I am the heart of Nova. As a final ditch, I save my heart with you. You have the heart now."

Dead silence.

"WHAT!? I didn't want this!" Marx exploded, after being informed of having the heart of Nova.

"Relax, tiny one. Nova's heart can calm your soul… as per your last wish to live."

"Oh. Huh…." Marx gave it a thought.

"All that's left is the final clockwork. It's the remnants of the heart. Save it. It might be useful one day."

At this point, Marx was lost for words. The information was staggering. _He_ had Nova's heart? His soul is quelled?

_What sort of black magic is this?_

"Well… thanks, I suppose," Marx thanked the imaginary Nova.

"Final thanks to you. shutoff_forget_dead execute"

Nova collapsed like glass as pieces of the machine littered the dreamscape.

Marx stood there, blank as he processed his newly acquired information.

* * *

Hyness came into Marx's room. Marx was wide awake.

"I've come to recruit you for a specific reason..." We're going to revive an old god named Termina. We need your help to gather and provide information as well as power, preferably using _soul_…"

On the instant of hearing Hyness utter the word 'soul', Marx refused.

"No. I'm done with that form. Done with my ambition. Got anything else, old hag?"

Hyness cackled.

"So you wish to play this way… very well, child of tricksters… I shall play by your game. You will be severely limited in whatever you'll do, under _my_ supervision."

"Fine by me, asshole."

Marx's slightly rude words echoed in the room.

"Tsk. I really wish you hadn't denied. Know that you'll have a bad time coming to you in the future."

Hyness exited the room, closing the door behind him. A sigh came from Marx. Suddenly, a thought came to his head.

_Where's that piece of Nova's heart? It's by your bed, idiot._

Marx looked around his room for a while to see it slightly covered by his bed, allowing no one to see it upon first glance.

"I need to hide this…"

Marx slid the clockwork in the desk. Not very secure, but it works for now.

"Okay… Perfect!"

Hidden, out of sight.

They weren't going to find it anytime soon.

A shriek came from the hallways of the base.

"Marx! I have a task for you!" It sounded like Hyness's voice.

_Finally. The hag called me by my name but my name is not my name._

_Shut up, soul._

Marx ignored the further comments about him as he made it to Hyness in order to carry out whatever task he needed to carry. In actuality, he had no intention of doing it.

Hyness approached him, face-to-face.

"I will kill you if you fail this. I have a very hard standard, you know. Now, identify the child of the stars..." Hyness plopped a piece of paper down in front of the jester, as well as some writing materials.

_I'm gonna be killed? Isn't that good? No it isn't._

Anyway, child of the stars… the only person Marx could think of that correlates to this is Kirby… but he didn't want to cooperate at all. What are they going to do with Kirby, if he leaked the information?

He drew a circle and named it Kirb.

...

"I tell you, he's a circle and his name is Kirb!"

"Complete lies! His name is Kirby, and while you've gotten at least seventy percent of it correct, you're inaccurate!"

"I was locked up in a mass of clockwork, what did you expect?"

Hyness sighed and let that pass.

"Alright, _trickster_, I'll let this abysmal work be sufficient for today… Next time, it won't be so easy."

Marx teleported into his room. He really needed to play this much more loyal… He'll get caught at _not_ _helping_ at this rate. _That_ had been way too obvious. Hyness still pieced it together though.

_I drew the worst I could! Evidently, the witch still found out. Not my fault…_

* * *

Marx stood there as seconds passed by, the machine ticking and tocking. He'd just kidnapped Kirby. He wasn't ready to see the puffball in such a peaceful state.

"Oh, Kirby…"

Too bad Hyness actually did see his actions.

That'll mean that he actually has to do those awful things…!

Hyness came in to congratulate him to his capture of the 'the child of the stars'.

Marx acted on his fake congratulations and went to the back of the room, practicing his well-thought personalities.

_Kirby has to see my pity face, otherwise he'll think I'm working for these morons... Will it work? Maybe, soul._

Right. On the ready.

_Ready_.

Kirby awoke, tied to the pole, as the three mage sisters soon came into the room to look at 'Kirb', as Francisca now calls it, based on his drawing.

* * *

Marx had found the box again. He had dragged it into his room, and left its contents back in the closet. _That_ was a few days ago, at least in Marx's eyes.

Another step to freedom for Kirby and Marx.

He'd need to prepare supplies… and the time frame between his next mission allows for that. After he stuffed the Jamba heart into Susie, he had gained a mission and after that, a break, and in that break, is when he'll start to enact his plan.

Marx went to Kirby to tell the good news. Well, Hyness dampered his spirits a bit, but it didn't prevent him from talking with Kirby.

…

Kirby saw the door open. It was Marx.

"Hey," Marx began, as he closed the door behind him.

"What're you doing in here? Is it about _the plan_?"

Marx beamed a smile and nodded, sitting down on the floor.

"I've got a box from the closet… that'll be the escape route. It's a box, the best hiding spot, I tell you!"

"...we're serious about this?"

"Yep."

Kirby questioned the jester further.

"What'll we do when we get in, then? What can make our escape a success?"

Marx did an 'aha!' as he stood back up.

"So, we'll get in the box…"

"Uhuh…"

"Then, we can ask one of the mage sisters to throw the box out saying its a pile of trash!"

"Yeah…"

"When we're out, we can start to make an escape vehicle!"

"I've got the star, can that help?"

"_That_ star? Well, it's possible. How are you going to get it here though?"

"With my phone, of course!"

Kirby pulled out a phone with a star as its antenna.

"...they forgot to confiscate _that_?"

"I hid it quite well, you see!" Kirby smiled at his advantage.

"...I don't even want to know _where_ you hid the phone."

"It's a secret, and it'll be that way until the future!"

"Well, keep it a secret… I think we can head out in a few days up to a week or so… Just, make sure you do you and I'll do me, alright? I can inform you once we're on that day."

"Right, sure. Okay… that's it?"

Marx nodded. "Yep, that's it."

Kirby began to talk with Marx about a range of topics, as the two conversed like acquaintances.

…

"Right, thanks!"

"Yep. See you again."

Marx headed out and into his bedroom.

He slept off his worries.

The next day, was his last mission for the foreseeable future as his 'well-earned' break was coming up soon.

Sleep was still in order.

* * *

Marx lay his body onto his bed as the voice silenced out and Nova's clockwork stopped ticking. After a few moments, it began to tick again. A sign of quelling.

_Guess Nova wasn't lying after all._

Marx decided to end his last day of missions on a good night's rest, as always.

* * *

Francisca was very intrigued at Kirb's story. She had a connection to the puffball's adventures, and sounding like fiction, it became fantastical as tales of rat pirates and multiple knights were mentioned a lot. A king was in there too. It's like Kirb's world was full of dreams!

"Ooh. Well, sorry Kirb, but I gotta go! My sister's gonna get mad at me if I sleep too late! Bye bye!"

"Bye…!" Kirb answered, out of breath.

Francisca turned and left the room. She had some work to do, after all. Who wanted to go to sleep?

She entered her bedroom shared with her sisters.

"Fran, can you sleep, _now_?" Flamberge asked her sister nicely.

"Okay, okay… I'll be there in a sec, sis!"

Francisca turned her attention to the empty book in front of her. As she grabbed a simple pencil, she pressed on the paper, and began writing.

"...and the pink hero raised her sword against the knight of dark…! Yeah, that's good!"

Francisca brainstormed for ideas as they flowed onto the paper, creating a story slowly but surely.

Using the moonlight, she wrote down her character, a brave pink ball named Kabi, and the tales she ventures through. Every sentence, Francisca would stop to think about how to revise what she just wrote. A small detail to a very nice story, she thought.

Francisca closed her book. It is now very late into the night, and she was tired. She hid the book and stepped into her bed as her sisters had already fallen asleep waiting for her.

That night, she dreamed of more fantastical stories, of ideas never thought before, and she stored it all in her mind.

* * *

Kirby slept on the warm pillow Marx had offered her the two weeks before. It was nice and fluffy.

Definitely a contrast to the dark and slightly mossy floor Kirby had to sleep on otherwise.

He definitely appreciated Marx's help, and Kirby was thankful for this gift.

Even with the pillow, Kirby's eyes could not sleep, and instead wandered over the small 'window' to the outside world. Stars of multiple sizes roamed the night sky, and even though he was away from home, the sky still seemed as beautiful as it was in Popstar.

A good way to remind Kirby of the home he'd had to protect in order to save the planet from multiple threats…

_Good times_.

It was hectic, but it was also good fun. Good fun indeed…

Kirby travelled all over Dreamland in his quest, sometimes with friends, other times with himself. It was intriguing, battling against Magolor in Another Dimension or when he had made friends with the people of Ripple Star.

Tales he all experienced, as Kirby recounted them with Francisca at her request. It had been a nice trip down memory lane, and quite great when he would add suspense or make Francisca laugh.

Days went by and Kirby didn't feel like a prisoner anymore. She felt normal, as if they were friends and not enemies.

As Kirby slowly drifted off to sleep, the puffball thought of what the next day will hold for him. Will it be another storytelling session or just Marx?

A good question to end off another day, Kirby supposed, as he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Daroach sat on his captain's seat as he charted the seas. Daroach, after (multiple) considerations, decided to move to the sea, seeing how many airships roam around Dreamland nowadays. Plus, he'll get to explore secret islands, so with the agreement of his crew, he equipped his now normal ship with diving equipment, providing the ship with treasure.

As he drew, the cabin door opened, with a round figure shadowed by the night sky.

Daroach rose from his seat. "Hello. What business do you have here?"

"I come to speak with you. About the world."

Meta Knight stepped out from the shadows.

"I see. Come, and we'll discuss…"

Daroach gestured invitingly at his table.

"Very well." Meta sat down on the opposite seat, as Daroach sat back down and began the discussion.

* * *

AN:

Extra, with a few things. Actually canon this time.

We get to see more of Kirby and Marx, along with a small snippet of Francisca.

Marx is now also much more fleshed out. Nice!

Another thing to note is that Daroach will be making an appearance. He's moved to the sea, because there was too much competition in the air. (The People of the Sky, Magolor's ship, Planet Robobot stuff, etc.) It'll serve as a transport for Magolor and Taranza plus their introduction with Daroach.

Meta Knight be discussing.

icanwrite13: He's "Da Roach!" in Dedede terms. Silk Moth Taranza's more like his soul form, considering that Sectonia somehow turned from a spider into a bee. Also correlates with his title.


	11. Chapter 8 - Beach Break

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 8 - Beach Break**

* * *

The sun greeted the land with its warm smile, as the moon slowly sung its goodbye to that side of Popstar.

With the knights off on their ways, Magolor and Susie decided to toil on making a compass using the heart from Magolor's small collection.

Taranza, having no clue what the nerds were doing, decided that he'll just take care of Dedede's package, which arrived on that day.

Nevertheless, Magolor and Susie went and attempted the procedure.

"I've magicked the thing you want me to do… And I've confirmed that the heart points to somewhere, and usually try to find more if it's split. My jars moved last night." Magolor held a bottle on his palm.

Susie prepped her items.

"Right… so, you'll touch the heart. I'll prepare the body," Susie directed, whilst holding the metal case of a compass, as well as the piece of circular glass. Beside her, was the body of a radar.

"Okay. On the go…"

"Go!"

Magolor sliced the heart into a shard. His hands slipped, surprised by the sudden movement of the heart, as he managed to grab the smaller piece of the heart. The other portion, free from Magolor's grasp, flew off into the air. "Leave it! We've got the small one!"

Susie prepared the compass shell and gave it to Magolor, who plopped the dark heart piece into the compass and sealing the glass. The compass instantly reacted to the closest dark heart it could sense, at times spinning around like crazy. Eventually, it settled on one direction.

Susie took the compass and inserted it to her radar case. The compass slots just perfectly into the device, as Susie closed the radar shut and turned it on.

Green lights flickered, and numbers began to show on the screen. Coordinates were now shown on the radar.

"Right, so putting code into this thing is really easy. Based on how quick it calibrates, it can detect the coordinate. Well, it's general area, anyway…" Susie waved the radar around. She then handed it to Magolor.

"Well, this is a parting gift, I suppose? I'll need to head back to Ripple today, and with the resources and items I've gathered, I guarantee I'll make a profit!" Susie smiled. Magolor nodded back.

"Er… I see."

"Come on! It's a momentous occasion of my company! I've finally got new stuff to toy with! Just, smile or something."

Magolor gave her an awkward smile.

"...good enough. Well, see ya!"

Susie sped away, into her ship. As seconds ticked, she activated the engine, and a full two minutes later, she's up in the air and launched the boosters. Her ship sped off into the cosmos.

Magolor fumbled around with the radar a bit before deciding to head back to his ship.

As he entered the cabin doors, Taranza greeted him.

"Hey! So, what did I miss?"

"Susie went off, and gave me this thing." Magolor threw the radar at Taranza.

He caught the device, and looked at the doodad.

"Well. That's nice of her."

"_Yeah_…" Magolor began to walk to the command centre.

...

"How about we take a vacation on the beach?"

"Huh?"

The abrupt question came out of nowhere, as Magolor turned back around.

"Y'know, the beach! Bandana recommended it after I told him how annoying it was to fight every single time we travel somewhere. There's even a great sunset! C'mon, let's just relax for a week!"

The offer was tempting. Very tempting. To relax and not battle for a whole week? That _will_ be amazing.

"Where's the direction of the beach?" Magolor eventually asked.

Taranza did a fist pump and gave the general direction.

"Well, Bandana said that it was somewhere south from here…"

"...let me have a look at the radar."

Magolor glanced at the radar on Taranza's hands. By coincidence, the Jamba Heart was also somewhere in the ocean. Well, looks like it's decided then.

"Right, beach it is."

"Yes!"

With enthusiasm, Taranza shook Magolor's hands, and walked off to his room. Magolor smirked and headed to the control centre, sending Lor to the beach.

Travel was smooth and steady, and hopes were high, both for Taranza and Magolor. As the somewhat functional boosters turned on, the ship zoomed off to the sea.

* * *

"The beach! Oh, shining white sand, tropical trees, and an amazing view!"

Taranza stood on deck as they approached the beach, ready with snacks and drinks he 'borrowed' from Magolor's fridge. As the starship stopped on the sand, Taranza jumped down straight from the deck and bounced himself until he managed to land on the sand, as he sat down enjoying the waves.

Magolor came out soon after with a peculiar device name the 'umbrella' and planted it in the ground, creating a cover for the two now relaxing magician.

They enjoyed the breeze of the wind, the calm waves splashing against the sand, and the overall relaxation they were having. Magolor gave a content sigh.

"The beach really is a good break after all."

"See, I told you!"

The two moved closer against the pole of the 'umbrella' as Taranza offered 'his' snacks to Magolor.

Magolor, already knowing where it came from, simply accepted the food and ate it.

This was the break that Taranza envisioned. No crazy stunts, no crazy events, and no crazy madmen.

Just the beach, a fellow friend, and a good conversation will do.

"So… your ship…"

"Yeah, it's… alive, in a way. Weird, huh? I don't even know its details myself."

"You're the captain, you should know your own ship."

"Yeah, yeah, gotten it many times before…" Magolor waved it off.

"Hm… what about that…?"

The conversation continued, as the two laughed at certain parts or gave up past experiences.

"I've had that time when I carried Dedede through the whole country, and half the time I look back and Dedede's the only part I remember."

"Eh, he's Dedede. Have I ever mentioned that I built challenge rooms and mini games for Kirby to play through?"

"Hm… might have to check it _later_. Right now though, sunshine and the ocean's all we need!"

The two drank their beverages as they sat on the sand, eyes out to the horizon, watching the waves ebb and flow from here to there.

Taranza eventually went out to enjoy the sun a bit more, as Magolor kept in the shade.

Magolor closed his eyes, searching for Energy Spheres. Most of them were at the bottom of the ocean, with the heart landing somewhere on an island. Great. He counted thirty spheres, too...

He turned around for a moment, eyes still closed, to see just a few faint dots scattered around in his vision.

He still had a few more spheres to go… at least, not in the forest, the canyons, nor the sea.

His ship will finally be repaired soon, and then he could properly launch his ship.

But today, Magolor supposed that he should enjoy the sun for a while. He and Taranza deserved it. Their goal was here too, so why not?

Magolor went out into the sun-soaked sand as Taranza invited him to build a sand castle.

"Never tried this before… would've been lovely to bring Sectonia here... right."

"Okay… you do know I have no clue on how to make a _sandcastle_, right?"

"So, make sure the sand stays wet, and it should hold. I think." Taranza said, unsure.

The two began building.

First, the castle walls…

"It's falling apart!"

"Put some compression on it!"

Next, a good castle.

"Dedede wouldn't be proud of this."

The castle was not a castle, more like a shambling pyramid.

"Eh, we did our best."

Last, a good moat surrounding the whole thing.

"Uh… the waves are eating our sand away."

"What?"

Indeed, the waves splashed at the walls. They had built it too close to the sea.

"Who cares? At least the moat will be filled to the brim!"

Voila! A perfect castle!

"...it looks like shit."

"It's good shit," Taranza confronted optimistically, trying to see the positive.

"Well, it looks… nice, I suppose."

The sandcastle consisted of a pyramid on the centre, a mound of wall that is constantly being chipped away, and an overfilled moat.

"Yeah, see? It looks nice!"

The two went back to the umbrella Magolor propped up.

The sun was now three-quarters down.

Taranza enjoyed the view, and fresh and calming breeze, and slept on the spot.

Magolor, on the other hand, fiddled around with the radar, trying to get it to give him an accurate reading. He smacked the device way too many times, trying to recalibrate it. Eventually, it settles on a position. Magolor marked that down on the sand.

As the sun starts to set, Magolor sighed and enjoyed the orange sun as he slowly fell into slumber, too.

A good day at the beach, some might say.

…

Waking up looking on to the sunset, Taranza rubbed his eyes for a minute, as he stood up and carried Magolor back to the ship, with the umbrella in tow.

He placed them on the control room floor, and went back to bed himself, as he pondered, peering through the occasional window to see the last light fade away.

Magolor soon woke up in his ship, and went back to sleep properly at his bed, the umbrella taken with him to the ship's storage room.

Umbrella thrown in haphazardly, he climbed back to hiss room and climbed on his bed, eventually settling on a good night's sleep.

* * *

"...are you sure that they're at the shore?"

"Confirmed. I heard the Dee suggesting where they'll go. Which is the beach. Therefore, you'll help them find the corruption and eliminate them.

The captain contemplated the offer for a second. "And what will I get out of this?"

"Treasure, boatloads of it…"

_Enticing._

"Alright then… I'll set a course for mainland, should be there next morning…"

"I'll leave you to it, captain."

Meta Knight left, and soon his ship whirred on and flew off the area.

_Well, looks like I'm off to _another _escort mission..._

"Change of plans! We're heading to mainland to pick up a few adventurers!" The rat yelled, informing his ever-ready crew of their new destination."

* * *

Another day, another task to do.

Magolor took care to his ship and washed it, mainly by dumping its bottom half on a freshwater lake and washing the top half himself. He checked the energy sphere count and returned to maintaining the vessel.

Taranza gathered fruits and berries in the meantime, preparing a juice that'll (hopefully) taste good.

…

_Now then, where's that_ _berry?_

Taranza was looking for a specific kind of berry, usually found in shrubs and grown in certain places.

"Aha, there it is!"

He's spotted it, reaching for the fruit as he pocketed it in his small basket.

_Now, coconuts…_

Taranza headed back out to the beach.

…

Magolor swiped the deck clean, as he trashed all the garbage on the floor, and stored the cleaning supplies.

A good check of the ship's conditions…

Energy Spheres are about halfway done now.

His midnight excursions helped… He had gone all-throughout the country to gather the few spheres not in the ocean, which managed to total up to a good amount.

He still didn't know why fate decided that his main fuel source should be thrown deep in the ocean.

_Oh well, I'll need to get them later…_

Magolor did another roundabout looking at the statistics. The ship was in pristine condition.

Maybe he ought to take a break now…

Magolor exited the main command centre and checked his fridge. To his surprise, a glass of… something was placed in there, a blend of… he didn't even know.

He took the glass, sloshed the liquid around, before drinking it.

It… tastes pretty good! A hint of sourness, and a tangy sweet flavour mixed with the fresh taste of coconut water makes it feel like some sort of tropical drink.

Magolor took the glass with him as he drunk and left the ship. Taranza was still gathering his ingredients.

"Hey, nice drink!"

"Eh? Well, I just thrown what I had together… Is it really that good?"

Magolor nodded. "Of course!"

Taranza headed in the ship. Minutes passed, and he left with a grin on his face. "Haha… I've nailed it!"

"See? You make quite good drinks, I'd say."

"...it's only _one_ drink," Taranza brushed it off as he climbed back up a tree to get its fruit.

"Eh, still. Quite a nic-"

TOOT!

A horn was sounded. It was rather loud, ringing clear in both of their ears. Taranza climbed down with his hand holding a coconut, and gazed off into the horizon to see a ship approaching them.

_'Well, that ought to be interesting…'_ Taranza thought.

"Someone's coming in a ship," Taranza warned, as he ran back in the ship.

"Really?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, let's see what they've got." Magolor followed the spider in.

A press of a button lit the ship's radar, and a ship decked out could be seen miles from the shore.

"Well well well! We've got company! So… how do we greet them?" Taranza flashed an evil smirk.

"We try and talk with these… pirates? _Seafarers_? I don't know the term…"

"Not really fun, huh… Maybe I'll try and shoot that star cannon you have."

"Are you crazy, Taranza?"

"No, I'm chock-full of ideas!" Taranza laughed.

* * *

The ship edged closer to shore as it sailed dead ahead to the two. Taranza went back to shore to wait for the vessel to arrive, whilst making another drink, accompanied by Magolor who grabbed a telescope and looked at the ship.

"I see… rats?"

"Hm, a rat ship. Oh! That's a _rad_ ship, ain't it?"

Magolor groaned at the awful joke. "Yes, that's a _rad _ship."

Taranza chuckled at the egg's annoyance and returned to mixing his drink.

The ship began approaching shore.

Taranza finished his drink right then and there, drinking it as soon as it was done. He cleaned his impromptu bartending area, and returned it to the Lor, going back and forth, coming just in time to see the ship docking by the beach.

Magolor noted the vessel and approached it cautiously.

As the two arrived in front of the boat, a figure could be seen exiting a cabin or sorts. He was wearing a type of red cloak with a fancy red hat on.

"Greetings. My name is Daroach, and this is my crew," he said, pointing to his side. "I'm the captain of the Squeak Squad, and we used to be famous back then…"

Daroach offered his hand to the magicians.

Taranza boldly accepted it, while Magolor hesitated for a bit longer before also shaking the rat's hand.

"Taranza here."

"Uh.. Er.. I'm Magolor."

"Very nice to meet you. Now then…" Daroach flipped open a book.

"I've got a job to escort you throughout the ocean, from a guy named Meta Knight, or something like that." A flip, and the book was closed.

"So. You're probably going to be stuck with me and my crew for the next few weeks or so..."

Taranza brought his hand up to his chin. "Well, I suppose we could do it, yeah."

Magolor accepted this, with a single question.

"What if we tag along in a flying ship?"

"Flying ship… mumble… mumble… Okay, I suppose…" Daroach permitted the duo to use the Lor in the ocean travels.

"Sweet!"

Taranza rushed off, leaving Magolor.

"I'll, uh, keep you in touch. Shall I lead the way?"

A moment of consideration, and Daroach responded. "Yeah, sure. I have no idea where we're going, anyway."

"Alright, We'll lead. Just don't lose sight of the Lor."

"The _what_?"

A question asked a million times.

"The _Lor Starcutter_, my ship."

Daroach nodded to the egg, and Magolor sped off back to his ship. Soon, the ship was on and floating.

Daroach, satisfied to know his clients, yelled to his crew.

"WE'RE HUNTING TREASURE TONIGHT!" A lot of clapping was heard in response.

While he and these two travel… what harm can treasure do?

His crew's morale up, he entered his own chamber and wrote a quick entry on his captain's log, a log of the Squeak Squad formation for the past few years.

'**Ship Log**

Day XX/XY/YZ

I've met two interesting people today. Their names are Taranza and Magolor (and the knight told me someone named _Marx _will be there, which is a complete lie...). They're who I'll be escorting for _reasons_ (ordered by client) across the sea. I just hope that this'll be a fun mission, for once. Looking at that _Lor_ ship, I've felt a bit jealous too… But then again, it's done and dusted. Had my time in the glory, after all.

…

Crew is doing fine. Rations are fine. Water supply is fine. All items in running condition. Out I go.

-CD'

A quick entry, with data and fiction crammed in for good measure, making the illusion really seem 'meh'.

He laid the book in his drawer. A quick look to the windows showed him the Lor. He remembered when _his_ ship was airborne. Too bad it came with drawbacks and cons.

Daroach turned and exited the cabin to find the Lor booting up.

* * *

Magolor flipped a few levers, switches, as he slapped the missing machinery into the ship. Now, the Lor is running at 56-ish%, a massive improvement due to his energy sphere gathering sessions.

That meant that the ship is faster too.

Magolor tapped his broadcaster a few times before saying a word. "Hello. I'm Magolor from the, uhh… adjacent shield. Please prepare for a launch in… about ten minutes." Relieved that his message was out, he went and gathered the last food available in the shores and the small woods behind it.

Taranza, intrigued by the prospect of food, helped Magolor to pick up the much more easier and delicious ones to incorporate into a bland state or as a topping to a dish.

Magolor turned to Taranza.

"So… you better use that ten minute timespan correctly." Magolor warned.

"Of course, of course; who do you take me for?"

"Well, you're _Taranza_."

"True. I _am_ Taranza."

...

A faint shout was heard in the distance, piercing through the Lor's walls. "Ready to roll, lower them masts, and a' set sail we go!"

"Come on..." Taranza ran, as Magolor flew back to his ship.

_Ah. I've made it to the ship._

The ten minutes before gave them enough time to roll back into the ship and with a simple countdown over the intercom, Lor Starcutter launched with speed, with the Squeak Squad right behind them.

They took off, ships swimming as they travelled into the vast ocean.

Magolor, upon launch, set his sights on the radar running on the main screen of his control, and watched the small dots blip as they cross the ocean. He noticed something though…

A dot was quite close to where they are. The ship's estimation gave him thirty five minutes to sail to the location.

Thirty minutes later, Magolor asked for a rest, as the two ships began to set up camp on their decks. There was relief in Magolor's face when he saw the Energy Sphere right below them. Well, at least near to it, anyway. The Squeaks, however, was irritated at the stop. Manning a ship takes time and energy.

Daroach saw Magolor coming on board his ship.

"Right, pal; what's your business out in the middle of sea?"

He was irritated, but tolerated Magolor's words soon after. "Well, uh, I'm finding the energy crystal needed for my ship and one of them happens to be here, deep in _there_," Magolor pointed over the deck railings.

"We'll need the deep sea team to get there…"

Magolor turned down Daroach's plan. "No need. I can get it myself. Just give me a snorkel and we're off again."

A sigh. "Right. Crew, prepare the snorkel."

They came back with the item, fitted onto Magolor's head. "Right… and off I go!"

"Hold on, take off your clo-"

Splash.

_Well._

Daroach calmly went back into his cabin, with the rest of his crew going back to their business.

Magolor was deep in the sea now.

Taranza, meanwhile, chose a better activity to do…

* * *

Taranza began fiddling around with the Lor's controls. He needed to find which one drives the thing, so that he could use it for… 'recreational purposes'.

_Yeah. 'Recreational'._

Actually he just needed to open his room's door. Taranza is locked out from his room, and he didn't know how to open it ("It's too complicated," he said), so off to the manual he went.

Too bad the Lor didn't come with manuals.

So here he is, pushing buttons to open his room door.

After pushing a substantial amount of buttons, the lights were off, the alarms were blaring, there was no air-conditioning, and somehow anti-gravity mode was turned on, with Taranza himself currently floating in mid-air trying to press the button again. It included a lot of flapping and off he went to press the button.

The second click of the gravity button returned the ship's gravity to normal. Now… how is _he_ gonna find out which buttons do what?

…

Daroach stirred his look to the Lor once again.

The last time he looked at it, it was a complete blackout. Then, it squashed in on itself.

Now, it had managed to flip upside-down, with Taranza dangling on the crow's nest.

_What the hell is happening on that ship?_

…

Taranza needed to _not_ touch buttons. Too bad he wanted to.

His door wasn't going to open otherwise.

Taranza climbed back up...down…? He made it onto the control panel again, and pressed the last button he had not yet pushed, in a cluster of six on the wall.

ZZZZZT.

_...is that my door?_

Taranza went off to check, ship still upside-down.

His door was open.

_Success! Now, I coul-_

Alarms began to ring.

…

Magolor had a strange feeling. It was not the multitude of fish and corals around him, but that of a ship. His ship.

Oh well, he needed to stay at the task at hand.

He'd seen the glinter of light that was reflected in the sphere's glassy shell, and he needed to retrieve it.

Grab, pull.

A piece of wreckage lay on top of it, as Magolor took the sphere with him, exploring the surroundings all the while. Bonk!

_Bonk? I didn't hit anyone…_

Magolor looked down.

A wooden… something lay on the surface of the sand.

Magolor tried to pull it out. He yanked the wood off, and what greeted him was a box full of treasure presumably).

He'd still take it though, just because.

Deep in the water with the single energy sphere secure Magolor started heading back up. He wanted to avoid the unsavoury hazards of diving, and decided to the surface via the long route.

The long route was just floating up at a very slow pace.

_Well, this'll take a long while…_

* * *

Magolor came up to Daroach's ship, fishing himself out via floating.

"Got it!" he shouted, carrying an orb and a small chest.

"Hand this to Daroach, alright, big guy?"

Storo, the muscle of the ship and known for his size, was handed the snorkel and the treasure.

"...boss!"

He opened the cabin door. "The guy's found treasure!"

A desk slam was heard. "What?"

Daroach exited his cabin and confronted Magolor.

"What happened down there?" the captain questioningly asked.

"Oh, I found the thing _and_ a chest!"

"...hand him the snorkel, Storo."

The snorkel was handed back to Magolor.

"Right; we'll lend you this equipment for the treasure location."

Logic entailed that if there's treasure in an area, there's bound to be more.

Magolor took the snorkel and paid his end of the deal. He'd already accepted.

"It's about thirty minutes away from here to the south-west, right by a long tall piece of red coral."

Daroach jotted that down and contacted Doc, his local scientist. "Ey, doc. Still got that submarine?"

...they have a submarine?

"Course I do! It's in the garage!"

_...they have a _garage _in here?_

True to the doc's words, a small entrance opened up by the side of the ship, as a small boat was lowered onto the water by Daroach and a few of his men.

"Set sail and we find treasure, lads!"

They're off.

Magolor saw them cheerily leave as he picked up his borrowed snorkel and his energy sphere and flew back to the Lor.

He opened the door and what greeted him was not a friendly sight.

"Warning, _warming,_ _waaaaaaa-"_

Klaxons were blaring with the air conditioning blowing at full speed, with trash around the main control room. Overall, it looked like something tore through the Lor. Something in the shape of a spider…

"Taranza, what the f-"

* * *

After disabling the alarms, Taranza got a stern talking to by Magolor, who did not appreciate his ship being messed around like this.

Magolor exited Taranza's room after his tense warnings of not doing it again, and started the engine of the ship.

…

"Oh, we're flying?" Daroach looked at the starship floating on.

"Alright, then. Spinni, get the controls and ram the stick. We're speeding tonight."

Spinni, the resident small and speedy mouse of the crew, grinned and sped inside the ship. Soon, the ship blasted off.

Daroach walked the edge of his deck and prepared his shout.

...

Magolor took his sweet time with the ship, still wary from Taranza's 'stunt' ("It was accidental!" he said).

_nyoom_

Something whizzed by like a blur, with a faint shout somewhat sounding like a "So long, suckers!" from Daroach as they sped off.

Well then. He did not expect that ship to go that fast. At least his next few nearest energy spheres are quite far…

_'Alright, then.'_ Magolor flipped the controls and off the Lor went with great alacrity.

He still had more spheres to get, after all.

Their break was worth the time, and now it's back to work they go.

Magolor stretched his hands as he glanced over the radar's findings. He had 8 spheres to get tomorrow. Fun.

Maybe he'll invite Taranza for once…

He closed his eyes.

_Hmm…?_

He saw an energy sphere up on the clouds. A singular one. It was moving, too.

_...how did it even _land _there?_

So, he had a lot in the sea… some stray ones here and there… with one single Energy Sphere on a cloud.

That'll be a lot of work. Not to mention the things that can kill them…

Tired from his journey in the sea, he slept early, and leaving the Lor flying all on its own. The ship has a mind of its own, after all. It be small, but it's there.

He closed his eyes, this time to sleep. A ghost of himself watched through the crack between the door, as he smiled and walked to the control room.

Souls were meant to watch over themselves, after all. They were the guardians, and yet the weakest parts of a person.

And they were proud of that.

* * *

The wind blew softly on the ships.

The moon had finally shown its face as it in turn waved its hands at those who could see it.

Daroach certainly can't, as he directed his attention to nowhere in particular.

He looked at the blurred horizon. He really was having a fun time again after moving to the sea. Seemed like his choice of moving really gave him a renewed sense of adventure.

…

"Well… We've got a problem," the captain talked to his crew members.

"I fear that the skies have lost its treasures. The People of the Sky, for one, blacklisted us from their floating settlements just now. So, I propose my idea."

"As captain, I propose that we move to the _sea_."

Storo raised his hand.

"Boss, you sure that'll be a good idea?"

Daroach tipped his hat.

"Of course, Storo. There's too many people in the skies now. We must take advantage of the unexplored."

"We'll follow you anywhere, Captain. Even the sea itself," Spinni added, the usually quiet individual giving his opinion.

"Good to hear that my decision is supported. Doc, any objections? The Squeaks, too?"

No answer.

"Okay, great."

Daroach turned to Doc.

"Doc, you'll need to build us new tech for the great seas. Hopefully, you can get it done, and then we're off."

"Yes, yes. I'll try to hurry, at least at a good pace…"

"Our plans are set then. Let's find some treasures, shall we?"

A collective agreement formed that night.

…

Daroach knew he could trust his team. His loyal crew.

After all, he was one not to repeat mistakes. Countless mistakes done, but never repeat blunders.

He's developed a sense of paranoia for chests, for those dealing in dark places…

And it helped.

It helped him avoid a good amount of… unsavory types, after the opening of the dark star and Kirby's victory over the possessive being.

Well, lessons learned, he supposed.

He had responsibility. And that was enough to carry him across the skies and the seas of Popstar.

_Determination_, _Curiosity_ and _Responsibility_.

The three driving forces behind his actions. Not of the past, and maybe not the future, but his present. The greatest ideology he could have _right now_.

* * *

AN:

Yeah, writer's block managed to get me.

We've got Daroach here! Also, a chapter without boss battles, for once. Amazing!

Gotta give them a good break, after all. I can't have these two run around and get in trouble without rest.

Things are finally moving again.

icanwrite13: Hm. People need to have their fame in the spotlight for a little while… no matter if they're like Taranza or not.

rachael. : Extras do have that detail that I just like to add for the sake of the characters and worldbuilding.


	12. Chapter 9 - Orange Oceans

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 9 - Orange Oceans**

* * *

Sailing was something neither magicians ever took part in. Good thing they're surrounded by miles and miles of ocean. They'll have plenty to learn!

At least, that's what you would expect.

"I'm bored, dammit!"

"So am I…"

...Well, there's that _one_ problem.

These two were also quite bored, knowing that their journey in the sea will be much longer than usual.

Well, there's that proposition…

"Hey, Taranza, you want to help me find energy spheres deep in the sea?" Magolor offered.

Taranza thought about that, and he answered quite quickly, too.

"Of course! Yes! I'll die of boredom before we get to Kirby…"

Magolor headed out of his ship.

"I'll need to borrow another snorkel, then…" he mumbled, exiting the room.

Taranza decided that his next action, while waiting, was to snoop around Daroach's ship.

His curiosity was peaking, after all, and he liked to explore.

That goal became his target, as he planned his infiltration…

…

Taranza shrouded himself with his blanket, and headed out of the Lor to get into the Squad's ship.

He decided that he needed to slip in unnoticed, and unequipped his 'gear'.

With a good 'hello' and a clunky excuse, Taranza managed himself onto the ship.

It went somewhat like this…

"Hey, hello! I don't believe we've exchanged names!"

Spinny, who happened to be near Taranza, responded himself. "Name's Spinny! I'm the guy handling the agility stuff. Well, not that there's much to do now that the captain decided to go to the sea…"

They exchanged a good line or two, and gave their farewells to each other. Taranza, checking for any prying eyes, went and searched for Daroach's cabin. It wasn't that hard to find. It had been the most obvious room, after all.

Much like Magolor's desk, Daroach had multiple papers and tools laid upon the table, with a map and a navigational divider set aside.

A mug had been placed there, too. It was half-filled, and it looked like it had just been drunk recently. He was going to have to be fast with this.

Taranza took a look and the papers. One interested him the most: a note from Meta Knight. He began to read.

"There's a prophecy that may soon come to pass. It is descended from my people, and those who were trusted.

There had been a tribe of sorcerers who had contacted a god oh-so long ago. Descendants of that tribe had lost their purpose of trying to seal the beast, and instead aim to release it. How it turned to _this_, I do not know.

It's name is Termina. The god of void. The originator. The matter most dark. It is an old being, one which I truly recognise. It had been the father to all who were 'children' of his.

A title was granted for himself and his children.

God of Void. Child of Dark. Child of Light. Child of Tricksters. _Child of Stars_.

This is, however, not complete.

There is one scribbled off by most retellings of this story. I have, however, managed to retrieve this valuable information, due to the truth that always lay in my family. There was a group of whom were consequential in this prophecy. _The False Children_. Those who play a side role have received this title. As to whom this may refer, I do not know.

I have deduced who the four 'children' are. Stars positively refer to Kirby, as you might already know. The Dark and the Light will be a magician and a spider, who are travelling on a ship, both of whom are named Magolor and Taranza respectively. As for the Trickster, his name is Marx.

I need to find the last three. When the three are found, then Kirby can come back to Dreamland.

He's gone, you know. He's been kidnapped, or so I've been told. Just fi-"

Taranza was just about to finish reading, when a loud noise jolted him.

The door opened. "What the hell are you doing here? Who are you?"

Taranza looked nervous for once.

"Get ou-"

"Sososorrybye!" Taranza exclaimed in a hurried manner, masking his voice in a deep fashion. He then bowled Daroach right over and jumped over the deck, stretching his web onto the Lor, propelling him a good mile or so onto the Starcutter deck.

"Flippin' thieves… at least that one's got some manners..."

* * *

That had been useful. The children and the god, huh? Looks like this was foretold in a prophecy. Taranza was liking it all the while. He finally had something to ponder over!

_Is this connected to my soul? And I am the 'child of light'? Not so sure about that… Magolor, though… he fits right in with the whole dark 'spiel'._

_Actually… isn't my _soul _form a moth…?_

He still did not know what part made him a candidate for being a child of light. Maybe it was the moth.

Taranza sighed and stood silent on the Lor.

…

Magolor had bargained for quite some time.

"I tell you, _you_ get more treasure, and I can get my fuel!"

"Fine, fine, I'll lend it to you!"

Daroach, who had clearly been worn out by the length of Magolor's speech, gave in and handed the egg his other snorkel.

"Take care of 'em, dammit."

"Will do."

Daroach started to relax some more.

"Right, the trade is over, and I need a good, long break…"

Magolor looked at the roach as he went into his canin after their negotiation down in a private room.

"What the hell-"

Magolor heard that part being exclaimed loudly. Figuring it was normal, he returned his attention to the snorkel.

"Get ou- Sososorrybye!"

He heard that, too, with footsteps ringing clear as day into Magolor's ears. Now, that's not so normal. Looks like some sort of quarrel is happening.

Might as well check it out.

Magolor ran up from the room, to find Daroach leaning over his deck, looking for something… or is it some_one_?

"Hey. Something happened?"

"Yeah, and it ain't good. Some black, sorta oval dude took a look at my important notes. It'll probably be leaked. Can't catch a good look on its face, too..."

"Well, I can try and catch him later."

"Easy for you to say; you didn't see how quick he was."

"Don't worry, I've got a plan…

Magolor's plan involved him running the auto-defense on this guy. "I'll do this right now, actually. Bye!"

Magolor said his goodbye to Daroach, who simply waved in return.

The sun began to set. It rolled around to a good evening, turning the ocean orange and warm.

The thief would never be found, as he never struck the mice again…

And even if Taranza returned in his getup, he'll have the Lor to deal with…

Thankfully, he'd never have to, as he outed himself out.

* * *

"Information, information, information…"

Taranza was currently pacing around, and occasionally writing (or drawing) the things he gathered on the captain's desk.

There were multiple names, titled to an attribute, as well as a circle, representing Termina. A crude drawing of himself, Kirby, and Magolor were there, along with a box with a name inside: Marx.

Now, he didn't know who this guy is, but he figured that he'll meet him (or her) eventually.

Lines were drawn, connecting Termina to the children.

Children…

"Ah!" Taranza returned to the paper.

Taranza nearly forgot about the false ones.

A quick scribble, and he drew a triangle, labelling it accordingly.

"Now, God of Void... "

_Void… dark… _

_Dark?_

_Does the _mirror _count? It produced the darkest reality he'd seen yet..._

He had experience toying with it, and it produced… a very, _very_ unsatisfactory result.

Taranza drew a line.

He began to think through the theory, slowly hitting a roadblock. He didn't know other beings with 'void' connected to them.

..._when was void even mentioned…? What significance does it have?_

His mind traversed back to Magolor's notes.

_To find void in this branch of magic… Corruption had a part in it._

Jamba Hearts had a role. He knew that. Just how far, he didn't know.

_Worth knowing._

He underlined, circled, and boxed the word 'Jamba Heart', and fiercely linked it to Termina. He wrote another word, 'Corruption', and also linked it, with a much thinner line.

_Alrighty, then…_ _That's all I have right now._

Taranza flipped the paper on its other side and folded it in.

Soon, it became a small, paper boat, albeit slightly crushed up and wonky.

_Good enough_.

* * *

Setting up the intruder's description on the Lor security system, Magolor decided to check on Taranza, just to make sure he's okay. Even if he's on a different ship, the thief could've fled here.

Magolor walked down his hallways and knocked on Taranza's room. No answer.

Knocked again. Silence greeted him.

_I'm going to have to pull out the master key…_

One round trip to his room later, and Magolor barged in Taranza's room. The spider was half-asleep on his bed, muttering about a boat.

"Er, hello?"

Taranza flashed back awake.

"Ah, uh…" Taranza turned to Magolor. "Yeah, hello. Sorry, nearly fell asleep there…"

Magolor asked him a simple question. "You seen the thief?"

"Oh, the thief?" Taranza stopped for a minute. "...that was me."

_...this guy sounds honest. Are you serious, Taranza?_

Magolor voiced his last thought to the spider.

"...yeah, I'm serious. Look, all I did was look at some documents. Unfold that paper boat there," Taranza pointed to the desk, "and read what's inside."

"Okay, first off, stealing is bad, and second…" Magolor lowered his voice. "I admit, I'm a bit curious, as well…"

Magolor reached for Taranza's terrible paper boat and unfolded it. What he saw was somewhat like a flowchart, with mixed notes in between.

He started to read.

"God of Void, Termina, is connected to a prophecy. I tell you, what Meta Knight wrote was kinda wack.

So, Termina, right. God of Void."

Magolor took note of the use of 'void'. Continuing, he took a cursory glance as the Jamba Heart section.

"Jamba Hearts are very much connected here. Because corruption affects them (at least, I assume so; need to confirm with Magolor), it'll be bad if we let it run through Dreamland like some plague.

Also, Termina has some people connected to him, called 'children'."

Magolor could not believe his eyes on what he saw next.

"Child of Dark is Magolor, apparently. I don't know why. Probably got to do with his soul form and his attack type."

_What in the world…?_

Magolor reread that section. _He_ was the child of _dark_? It made sense, but come on… He already had enough of this since Another Dimension!

"I, Taranza, am the Child of Light! Again, probably due to my soul form, but otherwise I have _no idea_ on the topic.

Kirby, obvious one; Child of Stars. Fitting, considering the puffball travels using a star.

Marx… now, I'm not sure about this one. I don't even know who he is. Sounds untrustworthy, though, with a title literally called _Child of Tricksters. _Sounds too edgy, in my opinion. I can already see the guy's jerkish personality in my head…"

_Wow, Taranza really disliked this 'Marx' dude_.

"Okay, that's all?"

"Magolor, you missed the last one."

_Where? _

Magolor quickly scanned the paper once again, rereading the information strewn across the singular page.

_Wait, hold on, there's the section I missed…!_

"The False Children…?" Magolor mumbled, confused. "... this is incomplete."

"Yup! Again, I don't know who these guys or gals are, but they're there for a reason. Don't have one now, though." Taranza cheerfully explained his reasonings.

_Well, good one, I suppose. No info left…_

"Taranza, I'll make some revisions. Correcting your organization grammar, and drawings shouldn't be that hard."

"Okay, yeah."

The egg picked up a pencil and started writing. He needed to make annotations… and the drawing is sub-par at best, he'll have to touch it up a bit.

...

Magolor left the paper as it is and turned back to Taranza, who had fallen asleep whilst Magolor was reading. Magolor smiled at the scene, and left silently, closing the door. He'll need to affix the information with his own… and with Taranza's help, it might just be easier...

He finally can split his workload! Taranza won't be that bored again, too, now that he'll offer the spider a job.

_What a sound plan…!_

_Now, what was I going to do again?_

_Magolor, surely you've not forgotten the incident today…?_

"The _incident_, soul…?"

…

"Oh, wait, that's it. The thief. I need to remove the 'thief' from the security systems…"

Heading to his controls, he opened up the command console and navigated his way into the security system.

Magolor typed a few commands, and the 'thief' was no longer being targeted as a threat. He then wiped his sweat (or at least, what sweat there is) and took a piece of paper to record the information on a much better format. Taranza's organisation was horrendous… and he needed to rework the paper again, as it looked too messy for Magolor's eyes.

Unbeknownst to Magolor, as he had his head turned opposite to the command screen, a warning showed up on the top left corner of the screen. One that foretold of a slowly approaching storm. A very heavy storm. One that may affect their journey tremendously… were it to hit in a few more days...

Now, he really should get Taranza diving right away. They've got a few more energy spheres in the area...

* * *

"Ahoy, land!" Spinni shouted, enthusiastic as he readied the shovels.

Magolor and his crew (consisting of only Taranza) already got the spheres over the course of the day and at sunset, Daroach had planned for the entire team to explore the island now in front of them.

Storo beamed. "Ahoy, la-" The ship crashed on the beach. Daroach exited his cozy cabin.

"Who the _hell _is piloting the ship!?"

Silence in the ship ensued. A small Squeak jumped and yelled as hard as the little guy could.

Daroach sighed. "Next time, _please_ do something that you could reach." He then turned to his next point. "Who in this ship gave this guy control over the steering wheel?" Daroach said with a tense voice whilst he pointed to a now nervous Squeak.

Storo raised his hand. "Ah… that would be Doc, Cap'n."

"...I know the old man is gaining on the years, but seriously…"

Doc noticed the rest of the crew, who looked at him in scrutiny.

"Ohhh… I went off to get some tea. I _sorta_ gave control to this tiny guy here," he gestured, "for a little while. Sorry for the inconvenience, I suppose."

"Ah, fine. I'll let it pass. Right, screw the ship. Storo, can you repair whatever damage there is?"

"Course I can, Cap'n!"

"Spinni, you come and scout with me," Daroach pointed to the island.

"Doc, call on Magolor and Taranza. I want them out and about on the island."

The two mice went and did their assigned tasks, as Dariach followed Spinni, who was in turn also followed by the Squeak that was involved in the S.S. crashing. Doc, using his floating transport vehicle (dubbed 'the UFO' for 'the Ultimate Flying Orbital' by Doc himself), flies to the deck of the Lor and knocks on the cabin doors. He then knocks some more.

Finally, he just decided to just barge in. What he came face-to-face was Magolor asleep, laying on a table with a pencil in his hand's grasp. The paper he was working on was gone, however.

…

"Ehehehe… pretty good!"

Taranza is currently comparing his work with Magolor's. His looked much more rushed compared to Magolor's, with scribbles as depictions of himself, Magolor and Kirby. However, he wasn't just done with it yet. Copying Magolor's technique, Taranza strived to make his writing _good_, in a sort of sense.

He annotated (stole Magolor's comments) and drew via copy and pasting, finally writing his name on his set of paper. In other words, he had made a better copy.

"Bingo! I really like this one!"

…

"...this guy looks like a dead man walking," Doc commented, after seeing Magolor is such a state.

The alien was slumped over on his desk, tired as hell as Doc watched this guy snore.

Well… he needs to do his job, anyway…

"...time for experiment number 373…"

Flashing a crazed smile, Doc pulled out a number of wires, along with a generator with its fuel from his UFO. "Set the power to 0.10, and away we go to advancements in technology!"

Doc held his wires, attached to the generator, and connected Magolor to the wires. Noticeably, Magolor was literally jolted awake. He was not happy.

"What the he-" Doc cut him off.

"Mr. Daroach would like to see you, and you're running late, friend."

"I don't care about that! Why the hell did _you_," Magolor aggressively pointed to the generator as he continued to berate the now smirking Doc, "decide that _this_ was a good idea to wake someone up!?"

Magolor progressively got calmer as time passes, and by the time he calmed down, he really was running late.

Doc directed him farewell and started to search for Taranza.

"...I forgot to ask him where Taranza is…"

* * *

After a couple minutes of traversing the Starcutter and finding Taranza, Doc had finally found both of them and headed back to the ship himself.

All the others were already waiting for him on the ship's deck. Taranza looked quite wet… Doc wasn't sure _why_ that was the case.

"I still can't fly in this form, dammit. Best I could do is glide…" murmured Taranza, who grumbled here and there after finding out that gliding might not cover the whole distance of his travel mid-flight.

Daroach took off his fancy hat. "Right, now that everyone's here…"

"Yer gonna go explore the island, divided into groups. I want to see some treasure there, be it perishable goods or gold."

"Hehhh. Why do I have to join this?" Taranza complained, bring dragged out by Doc and flew off himself.

"Because we're escorting you. We're treasure hunters and we were contracted to escort you to who knows where."

"Hm. Ok. Fine… What'll we do then?"

Spinni was the one who answered that. "Usually, we forage or dig up stuff. Real fun, I'd say. Plus, we actually got a map this time!"

_So that's it. They're just focusing mainly on treasure._

Magolor spoke up. "Of course, me and Taranza here will help you out."

_...Magolor, I didn't agree to this one bit. _

"Alright, all's settled. Here's your teams…"

…

Magolor ended up still with Taranza, accompanied by Spinni and Doc. Daroach, who also included himself, barged his way into another team.

Taranza was complaining time and time again, until even Magolor was annoyed at the sight. Spinni and Doc had tuned out their ears long ago.

"Taranza, can you shut up for once?" Magolor said harshly.

Taranza was stopped mid-rant as he noticed the looks on his teammates' faces.

He had been annoying them to a good degree.

Whoops.

"Look, I'm sorry that my complaints have been getting to you guys."

"Yeah, alright," Doc muttered, with Spinni nodding in support of his statement.

crack

Something broke.

Someone else is here besides them.

Magolor was cautious now. On guard, he prepared a ranged spell. Just in case. Similarly, Taranza was unnerved, with Doc and Spinni readying their weapons just in case.

A river was in front of them. It was still, however, and its currents stuck on a position. Their further surveys concluded something. Something odd is happening.

"Well, you don't encounter _this_ everyday..." Doc studied the liquid, curious.

As Doc peered at the petrified river, Magolor and Taranza scouted the area around them. Spinni, however managed to take note of something. A single feather, beside a fallen branch. Its color was a deep violet, and quite heavy upon holding it up.

Upon alerting the rest of the group, Spinni showed them the weighted feather.

This was peculiar. They can't shake off the feeling that they were being watched, but the feather intrigued them so. They were so entranced by the feather that the nearly silent attack from behind them hit true on its targets.

shwoop

"!"

A horizontal kick made its way across the four adventurers, as they smashed onto the closest tree. What they saw was, safe to say, questionable. It was a hamster, a giant one at that, with purple eyes and much darker color palette than most animals.

Magolor had a terrible feeling about this. He now had another gut feeling. Somehow, had they met before…?

Racking his brain through, Magolor came up with one solution he might've just missed otherwise. "...Rick?"

"...pardon, who?"

That's right, he _had _met them back when he crash landed on Popstar. The one the owl introduced him to, as well as a fish.

Wait a minute. An owl and a fish?

"Guys, watch out for the-"

A black mass knocked the poor magician straight through the tree.

"What the heck was that, Doc!?"

"Spin, I have no clue. My UFO had been damaged ny that strike earlier..."

Taranza cried out for his friend, before returning his focus to find a fish in the river, spouting a great deal of corrosive water onto them. More accurately, it was a type of acid.

They screamed as some of their skin burned off, hit by the acidic blobs.

All came to hell when 'Rick', the one Magolor identified, ignited the small forest with a deep purple flame, causing smoke and a literal hell landscape.

…

"Boss, I ain't likin' that smell…" Storo warned his captain.

He had the pleasure of venturing with the captain, and something like _this_ happened?

"Should we check it out?"

"I think we should, boss."

Mind made up, Daroach looked at the Squeaks following him. "Listen, alright? Go help the other teams. Me and Storo here are gonna investigate the smoke from the forests."

The two crew members nodded as best as they could with a small squeak, and ran off.

"Now, let's hurry. Can't let a fire burn for so long."

"Speaking of fires, I'll get the cola. It'll help, captain."

…

Taranza fought to stay awake as his body was riddled with pain. Doc, who had exited his craft due to not wanting it get destroyed, shot off a laser or two before Spinni took over and slashed a couple of times at the enemies. Dodging the occasional blur, they had their hands caught up in a three-way attack.

The hamster, Rick, had razed the forest slowly but surely, with the fish dousing _some_ flames out with his acid. The smoke resulted from that wasn't very pleasant, though. With the bird's great speed, it made itself look like a whirlwind, which blew the smoke all over the forest.

"Do something!"

"Spinni, be patient, alright?"

Doc started to rummage through his UFO.

Magolor, who was bent on trying to knock some sense into these animals, fired off a much larger energy ball than what he usually did.

"Taranza, add something to _this_!" Magolor hollered, as he flung the extra big sphere over to the river.

"No time to waste, buddy!" Taranza made a much smaller ball of light, and even then he was already struggling. He wasn't used to this type of magic, and turning into a moth wouldn't help at the current moment, so this was his next best option.

In theory, Taranza had thought this through. Power from Magolor's attack would bounce off into his sphere, which can speed it up a _lot_. The problem is, he wasn't sure if it would work, and the enemy can't be guaranteed to stay in one spot for long.

_Eh, who cares._

Taranza floated the ball right on the attack's trajectory, and ducked for cover while passing a job to the other two beside him.

"Find something that could hold one of them in place long enough for that to hit!"

Doc and Spinni did their part. Doc, being Doc, grabbed his lunch from the slightly damaged UFO, which he had packed. "Spinni, take this!" Doc handed him his lunch. "Use it as bait!"

"On it, Doc!" Spinni grabbed the bait and rushed off. At that moment, the two attacks from Magolor and Taranza collided, Magolor making sure that his attack was slow enough for the rest of the group to prepare. Taranza's ball now went at crazy speeds, plowing through the spaces between the trees,heading towards the river.

Spinni threw his bait and ran for the woods.

Surely, one of them would grab the food…!

Magolor saw the opportunity present itself.

Kine took it, flopping out of the water. Perfect.

"That's it…!" Magolor shouted, as the fast energy bullet bonked Kine right out of the water, hitting him on the stomach and sending him flying as he choked for a moment and coughed up a full Jamba Heart as he was struck by Taranza's powered-up attack.

"Yeaah!" Taranza yelled out, as Magolor rushed over and crushed the heart with a quick spell.

Things weren't over yet, however. There were still two others who made their moves against the four-man team.

No second wasted, Rick appeared behind them, right after the heart was destroyed. "My mY, aIN't tHaT a goOd fiGHt? NOw, let's eScaLaTe iT." Rick began to continuously spew fire. This time, they weren't too lucky. For the second time of the day, their skin burned.

Quick reflexes brought the four minor burns, and they were already tired to their cores when Rick pounced on them.

Thankfully, help came in just in time.

"...douse him!"

A jet of cola streamed across the trees, and out came Daroach and Storo, carrying a full barrel of the stuff.

"Shake some more, Storo. We've got hostiles to take care of."

Taranza took a look at the guy, as Spinni shouted "Captain!" in an exhilarated voice.

_Well, I'm going to rest for a bit, and let this guy handle the rest…_

The others had similar thoughts as they all lay there beside the trees.

* * *

Rick screeched at the liquid and redirected his fire to the two mice instead. Another vigorous shake and a quick spike of cola, and Rick was pushed back by the liquid. Daroach swiped quick and hard at the arsonist aiming for his vitals.

_...I missed…!_

_Just inches away, and this guy dodged. Oh, I'm open now..._

Daroach observed his situation as he perceived the incoming attack. He wasn't going to let some weak ass fire stop his journeys!

Pyre came across to the captain, and yet he did not care one bit. Ducking as he swerved left, he delivered another swipe at the hamster, this time landing his hit.

Unfortunately, Rick also managed to burn part of his skin off, which Daroach patted quickly, ignoring the pain building up.

"Storo!" Daroach prompted, sending a flurry of swipes at the hamster.

"On it!" Storo prepped his remaining cola and shook it the hardest he could, as he opened the cap and cola flew out.

Daroach, catching a grip on the arsonist, picked him up much to Rick's annoyance, and threw him into the air.

"Sync? Please? Come on…"

The cola flew ever closer. Rick widened his eyes before opening his mouth to scream.

"Come on…"

Amongst the anarchy, Rick was blasted with high pressure cola, mouth wide open, as he plunged fast to the nearest tree, which toppled over.

"Great job, Storo! Though, it may have been _too_ powerful…" Daroach congratulated Storo, mentioning the last part in mumbles.

A cough could be heard, signalling the heart's expulsion, as Magolor unsteadily walked over and blasted the damned creation with vigor.

Daroach tended to his crew and the injured, as he called for the ship's medic to patch the guys up. A few Squeaks with medic hats brought him the requested items, as they started to patch the injured.

Daroach peered to check on Magolor as he helped apply healing remedies to the multiple burns and peeled-off skin.

Magolor wobbled back before collapsing entirely, with Taranza, who was already passed out at that point.

_Well, he could've been better._

Doc, who actually _isn't _the ship's medic, was still lying on the ground. Storo, instructed by Daroach to watch over them, did his job.

_What you all need some rest._

A few hours in, and Daroach was sleeping through the night, already carrying the four into the ship's infirmary with a makeshift stretcher.

He even helped to carry the hamster and the fish back to his ship, as captives, of course. They're alsi in the infirmary. They do need rest, too.

They had all needed rest, after the fiasco that the day had brought them.

He, however, did not know that there were three…

White, shining eyes pierced through the night. A cackle, appreciating the winds that will bring trouble to the island. She loved it.

* * *

Magolor woke up with a start. After finding himself on a bed, he questioned what had happened yesterday.

_Oh wait, that's right, I destroyed the two hearts. _

Something is wrong. He noticed.

Two _hearts…?_ Wait, shi-

"Crap!" Magolor rushed off the bed, and pain overcame him.

"Augh…."

Maybe he should take it slow.

…

"Daroach. Daroach, open, dammit!" Magolor knocked on the cabin door multiple times. Finally, after a few minutes, the captain of the S.S. opened his door.

"What…?"

"By chance…" Magolor rasped, "did you see… a third animal? It's an owl…"

"A third… animal…?"

His mind raced. "Wait, there's _three_?!"

He was so loud that all the other patients woke up, and came up the deck to find their captain post-realization.

* * *

Magolor pointed things out.

"Right, so there's three, Rick, Kine, and Coo. Rick's the hamster, Kine's the fish, and Coo's the-"

"I get it already. So, now, how will we catch this bird?"

The sun shone on them happily, though the ones on deck weren't quite happy right now.

"Well, there's multiple ways we could do it," Taranza offered.

"One, we could ask the other two animals for help; two, we," pointing towards himself and Magolor, "transform into scary monsters and beat the living devil out of it."

"I think I like the first idea better," Doc gave his opinion.

"Agreed. On the same boat here with Doc." Daroach followed.

Spinni gave his opinion next. "How about number two? That sounds quite cool, if you'd ask me!"

Storo voiced his own opinion, and decided that asking for help wouldn't be that bad.

"Why can't we do both?" Storo questioned the magician duo.

"I get especially tired when I use it, and I don't want to risk it in the state I'm in now…" Magolor answered.

"Right, so asking for help it is!"

"Agreed. I'll send them up shortly," Daroach mentioned.

All of a sudden, the sun stopped being so bright and happy. The sky turned into consistent grey and it starts to rain lightly. An ominous storm was headed to them, as a tornado slowly approached the crew. Was it a tornado or a hurricane, they do not know.

What they do know is that Coo is inside there, a caw of laughter echoing in the environment.

"Shit…"

* * *

_**Rick and Kine, Perfect Tag Team**_

_Being animals, Rick and Kine have managed to be __**'brothers'**_ _for a long time. These two were __**corrupted**_ _by the __**power**_ _of the __**Jamba Heart**__, and turned __**against**_ _**Dreamland**__, eventually settling on an __**island**_ _along with Coo as their 'nest', as Coo calls it. Both are very __**skilled**_ _in their natural affinity, with Rick using two affinities himself. Their powers have been multiplied many times, making Kine's waters __**corrosive**_ _and Rick's fire ever so __**damaging**__._

_Nevertheless, they were once 'brothers', yet they __**didn't act together**__, because of the __**different**_ _**personalities**_ _the Jamba Heart had brought them, __**reducing**_ _their __**teamwork**_ _into a mess._

…

_"Kine, want to be my friend?"_

_"Of course, Rick! Here, take this pepper and eat it whole!"_

_"Huh? Why should I eat this spicy fruit?"_

_"So that we're brothers, silly! The best of best of friends! I've eaten it before, and you should to! Isn't that what friends do? To endure and do things, together? Like a true brother! Come on, eat it!"_

_"Well, now I just have to, don't I?"_

* * *

AN:

Boy, what a delay that was. Sorry for that, by the way. Back into the roll now though, so we're fine!

Magolor and Taranza got some work to do especially with them finding energy spheres.

With Rick, Kine and Coo back in the picture since the Prologue, this'll be an interesting thing to play with!

rachael. : Marx likes to slip himself in the story sometimes. He's just got that sense of "aha, I must mess with this part of the story!" and poof, he's there. Thankfully, Marx is now _not_ there, so rest assured his next escapades will be put down immediately.


	13. Chapter 10 - Daring Decisions

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 10 - Daring Decisions**

* * *

The storm raged on, uncaring for those beneath it. Caws of malice filled the thickening air, as a bullet of air rushed over the forest. Coo was in the middle of that storm, her silhouette just visible enough for all to see, at least in the horrid weather.

Magolor held up his hand to block the rain droplets from hitting his eyes as he looked up at the incoming tornado.

"Holy hell."

Taranza, already wary of this massive predicament, began charging up his attacks.

Now, they wait for backup, as Doc and Spinni both prepare, along with the rest of the Squeaks (minus Daroach) for the trouble fast approaching.

…

Daroach passed his cabin and down into the ship's storage he went. There, two quite miserable animals sat in a cage, their faces contorting with Daroach's approach.

"...We did some bad things," Rick admitted instantly.

"Relax. Our crew made it out eventually, and they may not be in tip-top shape, but we're quite fine."

"Coo is still out there," Kine said. "She's still under the spell of whatever happened to _us_."

"I know. Your… friend is still out there. How about you two help me and my crew save her?"

The two began to be interested in Daroach's sudden offer.

"Of course," Kine responded with no hesitation. "We would never leave a friend behind."

"In that, I agree completely. Guide us to her, please, captain?"

Daroach nodded to that, and unlocked the impromptu cage the crew had made.

"By the way, may I ask your names?"

Rick turned to him. "It's Rick and Kine."

…

"I got them!" Daroach yelled, running with the two friends on tow behind him.

"Oh hey, nice. Can you aim at that tornado? Doc here's got a plan," Spinni commented, his face still focused on guessing his… exclusive weapon's curve.

It was a ball of… something.

Taranza smiled at them.

"Yeah, it'll be cool when Spinni throws that thing, according to Doc's plan, anyways. Right, so… Rick? I think?"

"Uh… yes, I am Rick. What do you want me to do?"

"We kinda need you to blow your fire at that tornado. Our enemy is in there, see?"

Magolor continued Taranza's explanation.

"Once the fire catches on to the tornado, Spinni'll throw his powder stuff, and me and Taranza here will blast the whole thing down. The Squeaks will give you the height needed, Rick. Kine, you can probably douse any big fires, alright?"

The plan made sense enough. Rick and Kine seemed to be in full agreement. Nods came from both of them as Daroach spoke up.

"What am I going to do, sit around?"

Doc answered him. "Mr. Daroach, I believe we some strong rope at the ship, can you get them?"

"Sure thing, Doc."

Cooperation was at the utmost importance here. If they faltered one bit, the plan wouldn't come into fruition.

The tornado came ever closer. Spinni began to tap his foot onto the ground in impatience, waiting for his time to shine.

A voice among the winds spread across the island.

_"You have come here. You've been in our way for so long. Now, we shall end this. No more warnings, no more second chances._

_**i sHalL rAZe tHis fOrEst tO tHE gRouNd!**__"_

This declaration was heard loud and wide, and usually, this means nothing. In this case however, the ungodly haze began stirring as the winds spun faster and faster, a misery right in front of the S.S. crew. Their plan began to fall apart.

Spinni wasn't very sure anymore that his throw would land.

"Uh, Doc? I don't think we'll be able to throw this bag now. The winds are quite high today, and that malice of a bird seems to _not_ like our interruptions."

"Worry not, young Spinni! We'll just blast it out of Mr. Daroach's cannon, instead. It _should_, in _theory_, work splendidly."

Taranza brought a fact up, however. "Uh, not to burst your plan, but can we race _against_ a tornado?"

"The tornado will catch up to us, at this point."

"...Ah, screw it." Doc began moving his UFO, and directed Spinni a clear message.

"Wing it, and hope that it'll burst open!"

"Gotcha, Doc!"

This was the teamwork they needed. The winds were ever so strong now, the tornado ever closer. Spinni spun himself, building momentum, before launching his item into the great wind. The bag opened in the tornado, as a yellow powder spread all throughout the tornado, coloring it yellow.

"Mr. Rick, was it?" Doc turned to the hamster. "Yessir, that's me."

"Blowtorch this tornado."

Rick sighed, and puffed himself up. "I kahn't guahranti thees, bhut ith'll whork-h, hoapfoully…!"

He let it all out, his flames spiralling amongst the powder. As soon as the pyre connected, it all underwent an instant combustion, lighting the tornado up.

It was effective. Very effective. Wildfires began to spread like crazy, and Kine was on his job.

_**"gRahHHhhHhH! tHE fIrE!"**_

The tornado dispelled and what remained horrified them all, as Magolor froze upon his assigned task.

It was an eyeball. A giant one.

The eye was surrounded by smaller 'spikes', as Coo floated there, soon falling, down Popstar, seemingly cut off from the corruption for a little while. The Squeaks rushed off, forming a safety blanket for the owl to land on as Rick catched up on them to look at his friend. "Coo…"

…

Almost everyone was shock still. Atleast, everyone _except _Daroach and Storo.

Daroach came back then, his hands full of rope.

"Thanks captain! Now I can tie the bird lady up!" Storo grinned, as he went off.

"Well, I got the rope done, so now I suppose I'll help against the giant eyeball thing."

Taranza looked at him. "Why are you so nonchalant about this…?"

"Well, this is life, and I just gotta deal with it."

"...fair enough. Oi, Magolor, ready up!"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah!"

They spun their dark and light balls, both intertwining as they spun to the storming eye.

A faint explosion was heard, as the attacks connected. The eye seemingly began to creep into a deep color of red, as the cloud surrounding it got darker and darker.

A pertinent sign of thunder and lightning to come immediately.

"Hide, hide, hide, hi- Do something!"

Panic arose. Taranza turned to Magolor in a frantic spin.

Magolor, who had the most experience in dealing with magic, expensed the rest of his energy for a good barrier covering everyone, especially those who were dealing with Coo.

"I really hope this works."

"I'll say, as a mice of science, this is very peculi-"

The realm of thunder struck the island.

Every tree was incinerated in an instant.

"...Well." Even Daroach seemed to think that the attack was bogus.

"Okay, we're doing this the hard way. Climb on the Lor, everyone!"

"The Lor?" Spinni inquired.

"My ship, the Lor Starcutter, a flying masterpiece!" Magolor proudly announced to the confused mice.

* * *

Up on the Lor they were, prepared to engage in an air battle against… well, the winds.

It literally is the eye of the storm they were aiming for.

The command room was beginning to get a bit cramped, too…

"Right, let's hit 'em with a good projectile or two…"

Or rather, that was what the massive cloud did first.

Its spikes flew off from its body, travelling much like missiles would.

It all detached from the clouds, and aimed straight at the Lor.

"...Okay, that's not good…"

"Hm. Nice ship, but are you sure this won't get wrecked by the end of this?" Daroach questioned Magolor, who focused on the warnings Lor had given him.

"Yeah, won't get wrecked. Not in my watch, should something happen."

Magolor ordered a few strikes on the incoming spike missiles. A cannon came out of the sides of the Lor, and blasted a counter-attack to the spikes, advancing closer each time it destroyed a projectile.

A series of booms and blasts were heard, as Magolor turned his ship a good amount, aiming for the eye.

"Laser, percent how much?"

"Response is 80 percent ready, Magolor."

Taranza was fidgeting by now. They had to wait for the laser to charge up.

Nervousness was definitely present in the atmosphere, one way or another.

Some mice were pacing around in circles, or tapped their foot against the floor at times.

It's understandable, especially when you start a ship flying to a giant eye in the sky.

...

The winds buffeted their journey across the sky, with the addition of multiple passengers also playing a part in this, but the Lor managed, somehow.

They got closer each second they spent in the sky, and that laser kept up its progress bar on-screen for Magolor to view in anticipation as he waited.

The winds became much more unforgiving, now moving at hurricane speeds, picking up some trees and dislodging them from their proper places.

It was tense, as tense as it could be in that dinky control room. Everyone stood and watched a bar fill up to its last few pixels.

"Laser active, Magolor."

That sudden voice changed their demeanors in extreme fashion.

In a sudden, Magolor began spamming a singular button, and ordering the laser be fired at the eye.

The other cheered him on, or stood silent, watching through the windows for the ship's weapon to burst out and bombard the devastation ahead.

The Lor's weapon system pulled out its biggest cannon yet, and out the laser came, sky blue, as it pierced the cloud's rickety winds, striking true.

Excitement erupted in the command centre as mice and magicians celebrated the attack. The cloud wasn't down yet, however.

It had coalesced into a smaller mass, its eye still hauntingly big, and it was _furious_.

Some wary mouse came out and warned the rest of the much happier men and women.

"Uh, guys? I don't think it's over."

That message came out seconds too late, as the cloud- no, a much more fitting name- _Kracko_, sent out a gale so fierce that it sent the Lor flying unsteadily by surprise.

Magolor, the captain of the Lor itself, began panicking slightly.

"WaitwaitwaitwaitIwasn'tready-"

Magolor climbed back on his seat and began maneuvering the ship as expertly as he could, with slashes of air coming, rocketing by his precious ship.

* * *

Turns out rope had quite a varied use.

Storo, Rick, and Kine were currently tied up to the nearest tree they could go to as the rain got worse.

Storo grabbed Coo and tied her up to a tree, as well.

"Sooo. Nice weather today, ey?"

Storo began cracking terrible conversations with the two animals. The third was too unconscious to hear it.

"Yeah, we'll just leave it to Magolor, there," Rick pointed up as he continued on. "He did survive the spell… thing, or whatever."

"Hm. I don't know about it as much as you, Rick, but I myself will just wait until the calamity has ended, _then_ you could give credit to someone who actually deserves it."

Kine had some good logic there.

"Wh-? Mnnngh…"

Coo seems to be waking up.

She blinked a few times, before devolving into a mess of squawks and swiping her claws at the rope.

As the attempt to escape failed. She resorted to seething and commenting on the three who were there, instead.

"My group will complete their mission soon. You lot stand no chance against it. Once it's done, you're all good as dead." Coo said this all in a dry voice as she stared in monotone at the trees.

"Well, I suppose we'll just fight it, then. Always dunnit, Coo. We'll have to get that spell outta you, too…"

An orange butterfly, seemingly unaffected by the wind, flew past the four and up to the ship in the sky.

* * *

Kracko blasted into them, ramming the Lor's sides at an insane speed, knocking the Lor and turning it a full rotation before Magolor sent out his extra missiles.

They all passed through the cloud without any resistance.

"Okay, now this is getting ridiculous. Do we seriously have to get out there and blast it to pieces?"

Taranza immediately voiced his displeasure of going out to the deck when the wind is blowing at extreme speeds.

"Taranza, it's sort of the only thing we _can _do."

"Hehhhh." Taranza buried his head under his multiple arms, before groaning and agreed to Magolor's plan. "Fine, fine…"

The two went out to the deck. Minutes passed.

Daroach, who also wanted to help, simply could not stand being sidelined like this.

"...screw being safe, I'm storming out there."

"Captain! Just wait-" A Squeak yelled out too late as Daroach exited the room.

"We need to help the captain too, right, guys?" the mouse asked his fellow crewmates.

A few mice volunteered, as the bravest and most loyal mice in the Squeak Squad.

…

"Alright, this is already getting worse than it should be… Taranza, you ready?"

"Of course I am. Aim at the eye, then?"

Magolor grinned, dodging a fast attack from Kracko with a "hup", and answered back a quick "yes!".

"Let's get this- heh- party started then!" Taranza commented, eyes following the circling cyclops cloud.

Time was everything they needed.

As Kracko sped here and there, Magolor threw his attack, a black ball, which if he timed it correctly, should-

Kracko sped faster under the ship and over, ignoring the attack completely.

"This'll be a hard one to hit… Taranza! Don't waste your energy-"

Taranza threw his attack. He then registered what Magolor had said. "Oh. Oh well, just some of that wasted, no big deal."

"No big deal, what are you talking about? You can't just throw an attack and expect it to hit!"

WHAM!

Kracko was hit square in the eye, careless after dodging Magolor's attack. Its eye began to go red, as in slowed down and landed on the Lor's mast, spikes keeping it from getting dragged by the wind.

That turned out to be a very useful advantage to them. Daroach burst out of the door to the deck, seeing Kracko up on the mast.

"What the hell do I need to slash at?"

Taranza pointed at the cloud at the Lor's mast, an obvious enemy.

"Just attack it. We're leaving the high damage to you!" Taranza grinned, trying to be as sincere as he could be. "We won't get in your way, or anything!"

...well, the actual reason why Taranza or Magolor wanted to attack was because of the latter's paranoia about breaking the Lor. "This ship's one good flyer, you know!?" Magolor yelled after Taranza suggested the idea. Perhaps not the best, and it'll have the chance of breaking Magolor's precious ship. Lucky them, Daroach gets the title of killing Kracko instead.

"Yeah, just slash the cloud, er, quickly, before it gets up."

Daroach climbed up the mast, and stood on the cloud itself, trying to tear its eye out from its wispy body. Due to the time wasted by them talking, Kracko had gotten up faster than expected, and now had turned a deep grey.

That was a sign they didn't have time to react to. So, Daroach was pummeled with tons of electricity, fried up before managing to get himself on the Lor again.

He was certainly covered in dust, soot, and burnt off fur. Not the best of conditions.

"Captain!" His crew looked at him fiercely, at least those who volunteered to help their captain out, those being Spinni, Storo, and Doc.

"Hey hey hey, we're back to beat the eye thing!" Spinni enthusiastically announced, instantly throwing a dagger to the cloud's path.

It managed to anger the cloud, now raining junk all over the Lor in order to try and compress them to death. It had also slowed down due to the precise movements it needed to make. The rest of the battlers seized that opening while Spinni ran like crazy.

Doc blasted the cloud with a laser, and Storo uppercut the massive cloud. Magolor swung another ball of energy, followed by Taranza's web, trying to tie it down. They all aimed for its giant eye.

The attacks connected, and needless to say, Kracko was pissed, as it struggled against Taranza's web to its eye.

Taranza pulled back, as Kracko began spinning itself in order to free the web from its eye.

"Well, ain't this a feisty one. I'd call him-"

"Kracko!"

Taranza looked up to Storo, still struggling against the cloud. "Kracko?"

"Well, it commands the _crack_ of thunder, so I just added the O and changed the C of 'crack' into a K."

"Meh, works for me- _can anyone deal with this dumb cloud!?_"

Taranza was tired from having to hold out against the pull of this insane cloud; or rather, Kracko.

"Oh, right, right. Uh…" Magolor charged up an attack.

Spinni was not amused. "Are you kidding me?" he said, as he continued trying to attack his target.

Taranza began to start losing his footing on the ground. "Hey uh, guys? I'm getting slippery here, so you better attack now."

"I'm getting on that, give me a second," Magolor replied, wind still harshly blowing on everyone, threatening to send them off the edge if the ship rotated.

"Right, right, come on…"

"Too slow!" Spinni threw multiple weapons at the beast. By the looks of it, something did hit the angry cloud.

That set it off even further, as it stopped entirely. It then split into two, nullifying Taranza's bindings.

"Okay, got that running…!" Magolor hammered his attack at one of the two Krackos. It did smack Kracko right on its face, but it shook off Magolor's attack and spun around in the air with its brother.

"They took my attack like a sponge!"

Doc fired more lasers, and gave out a great complaint. "Don't talk, focus on the battle at hand!"

"Storo will help!" Storo picked up Spinni, who was unsteady due to the sudden movement, and threw him up in the air.

"Idiot…!" came Spinni's remcame as he threw his projectiles and started to fall back down to the ground, with no Lor around.

"Portal, please…" Magolor tried to make a portal below Spinni. He did it so vigorously that his pleads came in more frequently.

"Please…come on... Yes!"

He succeeded too, dumping Spinni right back at the Lor safe and sound. The mouse eventually stood up and yelled at Storo for a good amount of time before realising that their enemy was still here.

Taranza kept it busy.

The two Krackos sped back and forth, occasionally pumping out its 'rain' and the lightning which roared over the boiling sky.

"Eheheh! Now this is a battle…!"

A crack of thunder whizzed by, striking the Lor's body, as it missed Taranza.

"Ahaha!" Taranza cackled, arms raising as he poured his energy into more attacks. His flamboyant pose nearly sent him flying, but he threw down a quick web to the ship's deck and kept himself from flying off.

Taranza went crazy on the offense, blasting the cloud relentlessly.

* * *

Doc and Spinni kept up their attacks, as Spinni moved onto his kunai collection, with Doc now just turning his UFO into a better weapon, upgrading his craft's guns in the middle of a fight.

Kracko just got more intense, now churning out water equivalent to that of a waterfall straight onto the Lor, creating an imbalance on the ship's flight.

Magolor just happened to notice this.

"Oho, no no _no_, I'll need to head back in…"

Magolor exited the battle to adjust the Lor's flight _real quick_.

That, well, resulted in a loss of offense from the team of attackers on deck.

Kracko stopped its waterfalls, and in doing so, jolted the Lor up and the imbalance turned into another imbalance, which forced Magolor to focus on his piloting skills.

Daroach on the other hand, decided to slash at the eye again, with help from Taranza.

A throw and a spin, as Kracko's half laid dizzy on the deck floor.

"Get it!" Daroach commanded, charging the eye with his claws out. He was followed by an entourage of Squeaks, all jumping and crowding over to the downed Kracko's eye, stepping and occasionally biting on it. Blood came pouring out, as expected from the amount of damage dealt to it during the course of their battle. It grew even redder than before, as Daroach and his crew's slices and steps caused pain to one eye of the storm.

The cloud recoiled from its attackers, flying back up to the sky as the other backed it up with speed and precision, trying to knock some of the Squeaks off the ship itself.

Daroach caught those who lost their footing from the Kracko's swoop. Like birds of prey, their sequences of attack were fast-paced, leaving no room for breaks for the enemy at hand.

The reason they had mostly been able to hold out is due to the sheer amount of distractions they've been able to dish out to the two separate entities.

Magolor came bursting out to the deck, having stabilised his ship once again. It did not go unnoticed. "Hey, what the hell, did you just leave in the midst of a battle?" Spinni asked, albeit rudely.

"...yeah, pretty much," Magolor answered, as he returned to his attacks following Taranza's webbings, if the spider had caught Kracko.

It was just a game of chance on whether or not Taranza actually webs the damn thing up.

"...got one!"

Regardless, if one was webbed and reeled in, it was a moment where they all capitalised on attacking it head on, trying to cause a lot of damage to the eye.

Moments of slashing and blasting the eye out were common during such instances and Magolor had had to return back to his control centre just to edge the Lor the tiniest bit to keep it stable.

"We've got incoming!"

"I see it!"

Taranza webbed the Kracko speeding up, failing to ram them off and out into the air.

"Got him again!

Daroach and his crew of Squeaks began to wreak havoc on the eye as usual. Magolor joined in a few times as it rose up, eye now blurrier and in a terrible state, blood oozing and discoloring the eye itself, before rotating multiple is a very fast speed and finally exploding, covering their battlefield with wisps of cloud and exploding eyeball gunk.

"...looking at this, even _I'm_ disgusted."

Magolor looked at Taranza, incredulous as he can be.

_Yeah, no kidding. Who could ever stomach the sight of an eyeball literally exploding and its fluids rushed out to the ground?_

_I would love to see that!_

_Soul, for goodness sake..._

They've still got another one, too.

Some Squeaks were deterred from the gunk itself, inching away from the Kracko parts that had exploded midair in a spectacular fashion.

Daroach however, kept up his interests. "When's the next beatdown, eh, Taranza?"

"...oh right… Hold on a sec, will ya?"

Taranza started firing his webs again.

Kracko wasn't taking any chances at risking being hit anymore. Instead, it began to focus on dodging and attacking just once, with power flowing through its wisps of cloud.

The sky grumbled as the turned a dark black, and electricity arced up and down across the insides of the clouds.

"It's going to storm…"

"Isn't it already storming?" Taranza pondered, as the sky dropped its bomb on them.

It was like a flashbang of white light blinding those on deck, as the electricity hit the main mast of the ship, which turned the mast into a much darker colour than usual, with a hint of smoke on its ends.

What's better for Kracko though, was the opening that light created.

The cyclops cloud grew something on its sides. Its spikes began to converge together, forming a drill on opposite sides of the cloud. It then began to spin, threatening to spike those unlucky enough to get hit by the attack.

"Wh-what's going on!?"

Confusion rang out amongst the crew.

And in a moment, that was the brilliant and the most opportune moment for Kracko to strike. It took a running start, and swung itself on an arc, walloping those who were now recovering from the flash right on their bodies, flinging them everywhere.

Some were too short to be affected, such as some Squeaks on the ground. Other, much taller people, however, were struck dead on target.

They flung across the ship, opposite from the wind, smacking onto the cabins of the Lor.

Magolor and Taranza were part of this, being flung neatly off the ship by the giant drill with a large gash on their clothing as well as their flesh, as part of the heaven-sent gift Kracko gave them and many others.

Doc in particular, combined with his elderly age, suffered much worse compared to Daroach, or Spinni, who was only hit on his ears.

Some areas bled furiously, while the team kept on patching up, dodging from Kracko's occasional quick dash to their bodies.

As if it didn't get any worse, Waddle Doos began raining from under Kracko, along with other miscellaneous items, such as scraps of jagged and sharp metal along with a flurry of multiple random things.

It didn't seem quite 'heaven-sent' now.

"It's raining hell out here, got any plans?" Taranza turned to Magolor and the others as he took a break in shooting and focused on movement.

"Well, we _could_ bait the thing. Just like fishing!" Spinni provided his idea.

"Hmm, not bad, Spinni. As your captain though, are we sure that we'll risk someone's life for this?"

"O-oh, captain, no, no. We'll just have someone hold up a thing, it'll get attracted to it, and that's game!"

"...great plan. Good idea, though…" Magolor slammed his hands together, idea forming. "I can probably shine some light on it… Taranza, you still have that light ball attack or whatever, right?"

Taranza nodded and showed it off.

"Can you make that very bright, almost like the lightning earlier? We throw it right infront Kracko's face."

"Eh, might work. I'll try though."

Taranza increased the brightness of his attack. It began to develop a tinge of yellow into it, as Taranza closed his eyes and focused among the rain.

Magolor then turned to the mice crew. "What do you have that we can use to pound it down? Taranza sort of preoccupied, right now…"

Doc pulled out a giant robotic mallet from his UFO, a collapsible mechanism as rigid as the real thing.

"Will this work, Mr. Magolor?"

Magolor piqued. "Oh, yes! That'll work!"

Daroach stepped up, his claws stretched out. "So now, all we have to do it attack it 'til its dead…!"

"Er, boss, _miiiiight_ want to tone it down," Spinni advised his captain as Daroach sharpened his claws after the last few deep scratches done to the exploded eyeball."

"Nonsense, Spinni. A good mouse must go overboard, everytime. Now then…we'll execute the plan."

Magolor whirled around to Taranza. The spider kept giving his last bits of energy to this one solid, miniature sun, as Taranza flung it to Kracko's direction.

It glowed a brilliant light, as burning as the stars itself, greater than what the lightning achieved. Meeting it straight on, Kracko could not gaze away in time before his eye burned deep.

"Now!"

An enormous mallet hammered down on the eye, crushing it onto the deck of the Lor. Daroach rushed in, and delivered a signature attack of his, each swipe getting faster and faster, as a thousand scratches were visible on the cloud's eye.

Kracko jiggled and struggled, as it tried to float away. Daroach stood on top of the cloud, claws still on fire as he continued to deliver further and deeper grooves. The rest of our team followed.

Spinni threw the last of his shurikens and other throwables, as he began to kick Kracko on the eye. It resulted in a one-sided brawl between Kracko and Daroach with Spinni on his side. Magolor chimed in too, flinging an attack there for good measure.

Taranza breathed hard as Kracko stopped jiggling and moving around on the floor, pinned down by their allies.

Its eye shook violently, as the cloud rose into the air and blasted it to wisps of darkness, as a circular, round eye was left to fall back down to the deck.

It bounced back and forth for a while, before it eventually came to stop, and burst open like a candy, its fluids leaking all over the place, with a single mass of Jamba Heart remaining upon the creature's death.

It began to try and float away.

"Magolor, blast it!"

"I can't! I don't have enough energy!"

Daroach did not sit back for this one. "I'll do it."

He slashed the heart, breaking it apart, much to the dismay of Magolor and Taranza as the captain fell unconscious. "Well… _maybe we should've warned him that it'll do that._"

* * *

Daroach woke up on his deck, back at his ship. Things looked peaceful. His cabin's door was open though. He walked inside, no hesitation, as if all was normal. He was greeted with a trashed room, and a version of himself back when he held that accursed _staff_.

It did not affect Daroach whatsoever. His face did not contort, nor his demeanor change. He kept a nonchalant posture and dismissed the dark mouse.

"I'm already done with this version of me. I'll just go to sleep..."

The dark mouse held him back by his shoulder.

"Well, if it isn't the captain. Glad to meet you. _Not_. Your ship has sunk." It mockingly commented, trying to prompt a reaction from Daroach.

Too bad the captain of the Squeak Squad was in a mood of 'fairly done and want to get over it'.

The environment changed, as leaks formed everywhere on the boat's hull, sinking the ship down slowly.

Daroach calmly walked to the illusion, and slashed it. It turned into wisps of black flames.

"You won't break? Fine by me. Let's just end it here."

The ship sunk instantly, and the feeling of being crushed began to apply to itself to Daroach.

Sadly, he was already done with this. Made it up already. _It was finished_.

"Ahaha." A laugh came out of Daroach's mouth.

"You seriously think that this'll be enough, _creature_? I've already gotten experience before. I _know_ what you're going to do, especially when the heart dropped from an evil cloud. Cut the act and let me fight you so that we can end it quickly."

"Not a fan of waiting, are we? Fine."

The crushing feeling stopped. Instead, the landscape faded away, as the Lor came up instead. No railings were on the deck this time. Daroach stood on one edge of the ship, with his doppelganger on the opposite side.

"No time to waste, right?"

The shadow lunged at Daroach.

The captain easily parried the obvious attack, and flashed his own swipe, getting some of the creature's shadow.

"Too bad my skills weren't shown in full view during the Kracko…er, the cloud fight. You would've seen how good I am at _close-range fights._"

Daroach jumped and flipped and he skedaddled all over the deck, opening on an aggressive mode; a full-on barrage of swipes, as the shadow found it increasingly harder and harder to keep up, losing a bit of shadow each time they slashed.

The shadow began chuckling instead, as the fight went on, completely lunatic by the time Daroach had made most of its body disappear.

"Fool. **yOu wERe iN a GOod StaTe oF mInD, ArEn't yOU?**"

Daroach smirked. "So that's what you aim for. Your goal in possession is to whittle down people using their psyches as a building block. The mental state in deteriorating condition is always better to invade after all."

"**tHat, anD tHaT bUllShIt **_**kNighT**_ **wArNinG yOU aHead of tIMe. tHe lEtTer…**"

What Taranza did not read had been in fact a warning to the conditions of the dark heart corruption noticed by Meta Knight himself as he took info from his sparring partner, who took it from the _King_, of all people…

And that happened to be useful to Daroach himself.

"Begone."

Daroach killed the dark shadow in front of him, sending its last pieces plummeting to what the mouse presumed to be ocean below.

"Trust me, Daroach. **wE'll mEeT aGAiN.**"

Daroach woke up at that moment, the last words of a liar etched on his head. His surroundings were hazy to say the least. His head kept pounding, smacked here and there, as he laid down and took his rest.

* * *

Outside the surreal experience...

"Crap, the heart's gone to him…"

Daroach was currently asleep, or to Magolor and Taranza, infected by the dark heart, Jamba.

After their battle ended and Daroach falling unconscious though, the sky began to stop raining its tears down upon the world, taking on a bright and fresh face as it shined a great orange across the sky. The clouds returned back to its white state, as the Lor slowed down, the danger averted.

The storm has been annihilated; Kracko exploding and destroyed.

Well, they still had one worry.

Daroach.

He… was in battle with someone (or not in battle at all, as far as Magolor and Taranza know of the condition).

The captain soon awoke however, his head pounding as he gave out a weak "Aha." and collapsed on the deck of the flying ship.

_Well, he won._

Magolor pondered over the captain as his crew carried him back inside, the Squeaks now helping each other.

_An interesting mouse, I should say. Though Taranza is a bit more nagging, at least Daroach knew how to keep his cool… shown by that spectacular awakening just now._

Taranza nagged on. "How the- what the- he just woke up with no trouble at all! What sorta superpower is _that_!?"

_Well, at least Taranza knows how to keep his jokes on check._

_Now that the battle is won, though, he really needed a break… actually, scratch that, he'll need a deep nap. Yeah, that'll do… I'll just…_

Magolor slugged back to his ship's insides, Taranza noticing slightly later that everyone had made it inside and rushed in himself to rest.

With the day at its end, a bright sunset flashed over Dreamland, the clouds setting themselves into a peaceful sight to see, colored orange and yellow, a tinge of red; the greatest calm the storm had to offer.

...

The orange butterfly flew past the now calm weather, as the Lor halted its path, stopping its tracks entirely, reflecting the wind itself. A whisper came from the flapping insect.

_"Not here…"_

* * *

Night fell on Dreamland. Most of the people of the planet slept well that night. Well, except for a good few people…

"...I still can't undo my rope. This might've been a bad idea…"

Rick rolled his eyes, and in annoyance, voiced his opinion. "Well, if you actually tied my rope closer to my mouth, _maybe_ I can burn it off. Nooooope."

Kine hung there floppily as the fish was still tied to a piece of wood.

Coo kept on complaining and complaining about how she needed to run off now and that she still had the 'Jamba Heart' to see. She kept on trying to slice the ropes open, but Storo's bindings kept her wings tied together.

As the noise of a rambling owl and the night setting on them, a thought came to Kine.

_"This'll be a long night."_

* * *

_**Coo, Perfect Tag Team (Cont.)**_

_The __**owl**_ _and the __**last**_ _member of the __**animal trio**__, Coo has been affected the longest by the __**powers**_ _of the __**Jamba Heart**__, effectively setting her friends off in a dash of save her. The owl's attacks have been __**amplified**__, as all those with __**Termina's power**_ _would be, as her attacks grow __**increasingly lethal**_ _with even the __**wind**_ _to her __**beck and call**__, pounded and pressurized to cut open most things in life. She is, however, the __**weakest**_ _of the three, having the __**least endurance**__, as well as being a __**glass cannon**_ _for better or for worse._

_..._

_"Well, now I just have to, don't I?"_

_"Excuse me, boys."_

_"Who are you?"_

_"Mh… I'm Coo, and you're disrupting my sleep."_

_"Oh sorry…"_

_"Don't be. I'm willing to forgive, after all."_

_"Wow, you're really nice!"_

_"Eh?"_

_"Do you want to be friends?"_

_"...sure. Of course! Just let me sleep, alright? I'll play with you on the sunset."_

_"You hear that, Rick? We're a trio now, and nothing is going to separate us!"_

_**Kracko, Storm's Eye**_

_A __**cloud spiralling down into madness,**_ _this creation was formed after a mindless cloud wished for a dream… and got its wish. With the __**powers of the Jamba Heart**__, its powers were that __**quadrupled of lightning**__, providing a great danger to the area around it. It can __**split in two**_ _to multitask, as well as __**summon wind, rain, and lightning**_ _to help aid it in its efforts to fulfill its desire. Originating __**from a single being**__, it has grown and __**assimilated**_ _groups of clouds to eventually grow into a __**massive hurricane**__, along with __**spikes**_ _marking its affinity for trouble. One __**obvious factor**_ _of its appearance is an __**eye**_ _that it has thought of to __**see the world**__. However, it did not think that __**the eye would be its only weakness...**_

* * *

AN:

Well, that went well. This chapter reaches the peaks of my word count with a 6.3k word count. Great!

Coo's not doing so well, especially after being tied, and forced to wait without the dark heart out of her system. This chapter has certainly been on one of my favorite chapters to write so far, incorporating multiple attacks of Kracko and improvising Coo, eventually settling on the 'it'll be on the next chapter biz'.

The orange butterfly is back! Yes, we finally see it in this chapter after its appearance in the Prologue. Rick, Kine, and Coo were also fun to write; I'm hoping to latch on to that friend dynamic soon enough. Had that increase from garbled lettering to _extra garbled lettering. _A nice touch, in my opinion.

Seriously, it's great fun especially getting off of the writing block I had in chapter nine and backwards from there. It's a real good relief.

icanwrite13: Taranza's beginning to pick up a bit of a mischievous streak, and you can't say no to that, especially when he doesn't go overboard with most of his actions. I sure do hope that this chapter satisfies you.


	14. Chapter 11 - Ideal Interests

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 11 - Ideal Interests**

* * *

Sunrise dawned upon the residents, as the crew, who were still on the Lor, excited, having all camped in one guest room. The room was trashed, but they cleaned it up, albeit slightly, before leaving.

Some stretched their bodies as they felt the cold air of dawn, standing on the deck of the ship.

Few were still inside though, and they were the most wary of them all…

Taranza, Magolor, Doc, and Spinni were the few who visited Daroach, still out like a log, with his condition unknown. They had kept a close eye on the captain, courtesy of some guards, and nothing had happened.

"Ngh…"

"Hey, uh, he's awake…"

Daroach sat on the bed, mumbling small profanities at some sort of creature before noticing the four individuals in front of him.

"...I've done something wrong, I think? Was I not supposed to touch that… thing? You know, _that_ thing?"

Daroach was referring to the heart he slashed yesterday.

"Well, _no_… but you did it anyway, and you're fine, so that's good," Magolor stated, elaborating risks of the heart to the captain as he gestured with his hands.

"You could've been corrupted, we would've had to _fight_ you, and there's a chance that you might get hurt, _a lot…_ the list goes on."

"You're still injured though. That'll take time to heal."

Daroach sighed as he looked at multiple bandages around his body.

That can be detrimental. Thankfully, he knew how to keep himself clean and prime even in his bandage-ridden state.

"You sure you're okay, boss?" Spinni momentarily asked, worried for his captain.

"It's a done deal. Spinni?"

"Yes, boss?"

"Do a headcount. I have a feeling we might be missing someone, after _that_ fight."

Spinni seemed uncertain, before making his concerns public.

"Boss… you just woke up from magic heart things; you're serious you're going to go deal with that _right away_?"

Doc even slid into the conversation. "Not minding me, Mr. Daroach, but what even happened in there? I myself am quite interested. This is valuable research, after all."

Daroach sighed. "Alright, from the beginning…"

"I slashed at the heart. My vision went black. Then, I was already lying on the deck on Magolor's ship, and by that point I was dead tired. I stumbled around a bit and hey-ho, I found a copy of myself during the Dark Nebula bullshit."

"Ah." Spinni clearly remembered when their boss was taken over by the creature. Not the best of times…

"I don't care what happened to the thing, but I diced it to pieces and let it rot. There was some pressure here and there, but it's not bad. At that point I was dead tired, didn't care, and wanted to go to sleep..."

Magolor took an interest in this. "Hm? Can you elaborate on the 'pressure' part?"

"Well, my emotions feel terrible, my breath was sucked down to the minimal, and my head hurts. Actually, some of that headache is still here…"

"How did you even pass that and _still _fight?" Taranza chimed in.

"Eh, I just didn't care enough for the fight. I wanted to be done with the whole thing, and just ignored the feelings."

_Well, that's certainly one way to do it._

"By chance, when did you encounter this 'Dark Nebula'?" Magolor questioned the captain.

"I'd say about a few years ago."

Magolor thought about it for a minute.

_If the memory is long overdue and isn't refreshed, then the dark heart can't be that strong?_

_With Taranza, at least his is… decently recent, from how often he speaks of someone he dearly loved…_

"Might be due to how long the memory is, probably. It just can't copy a good, well, copy."

It was a reason, and Magolor was going to run with it. Seemed like a really good reason, anyway.

"Eh, alright. I'll start with the headcount now…"

_Ah, right. Forgot that we've been holding him back against that._

"Boss, you sure you're not hurt in some other way though?" Spinni added, another cautious query.

"No, not really, Spinni. I was just tired, and my head is still pounding, so I'll be fine. Now, can we finally do a headcount?"

"You got that, boss!" Spinni rushed out of the door.

Doc examined Daroach for a bit, before declaring that he was 'a-ok' in his book.

Doc went on to follow Spinni a short while after that.

"Don't take it too hard, alright?"

Daroach gave a chuckle.

"Of course. I know how to balance it out."

Taranza and Magolor, who followed him out, left the room, and leaving Daroach alone in the guest room.

"Hm. Maybe I'll have some rest…"

* * *

Spinni blasted through the door with excitement as he told the Squeak Squad crew to line up. It was a huge ecstasy after all, getting part in doing stuff like this, building up his rapport with the captain further.

As they all stepped into a line, Spinni went down the line and kept a mental image of everyone there. "Bob, Kalo, Qwazi, Doc, Japi…"

The list was getting smaller, and he narrowed it down to the individual. He frowned.

From all of the members, only one didn't show up. It was Storo.

Oh well, if he didn't come, he didn't come.

What was he even doing, not coming back to the starship all of a sudden?

It took Spinni a good ten seconds of realization to notice that Daroach sent him out to beat the owl.

Oh. We didn't invite him to Kracko. And we left him for a day or two now.

"STORO AIN'T HERE, CAPTAIN!" he cried out, his voice reaching even below the floor of the blue starship.

…

Daroach slept soundly in the guestroom of the Lor, silent sans for the low intakes and outtakes of air from his bobbing chest. Well, before Spinni shouted his lungs out.

"STORO AIN'T HERE, CAPTAIN!"

"Gyah, wha-"

Daroach stumbled out of surprise, cutting what he was going to say in half and stepped out despite his injuries.

"CAPTAIN!" The Squeak Squad greeted their captain upon his arrival on deck.

"I've heard that Storo is missing, yes?"

"Yeah, he's gone," Spinni pouted.

"Well, I might've sent him to tie up the owl… and kept it at the back of my mind for the whole fight…"

Daroach coughed for a moment, and continued his reasoning.

"Now, I suppose we shall conduct a search for Storo back at the island. Hopefully, it won't take so long. Got that, crew?"

"YES, CAPTAIN!" The multiple roars of the words soared through the sky, voicing their agreement for the world to hear.

"That's what I like to see! Now, we find Storo, and set sail for more treasure…!"

"YEAH!"

…

The wind blew in a certain direction as the sun reached its peak.

Storo had better days, especially ones that were not filled with a shouting lady.

"I SWEAR TO JA-"

Rick and Kine somehow kept silent as they hung on the trees. Seemed like they didn't want to add to the headache.

They had all been tied up for a whole day, after all.

Gravity certainly hadn't made it easier to sleep.

"When will they arrive here…?" Rick questioned, tired from the soreness.

"Maybe… in a few more hours?" Kine responded, his voice tired from the past hours of being battered by rain whilst tied up to a tree.

"I can't wait more… I'm sick of this..."

The leaves rustled nearby.

Hope rose up, as Taranza and a group of rats found their way to them.

Cries of joy came from Rick and Kine, while Storo was just plain unresponsive. Coo was still in full rant mode, with her rising anger flapping out in full force.

"Haha, can't tie me now, bi-"

Taranza flung web to her.

"Well, that shut her up," Taranza smirked, as he turned into a much joyful approach. "Now then, let's carry the angry bird!"

Taranza picked up Coo with some help, as she wiggled and protested as best as the owl could.

…

"Got them!"

"Ooh, nice."

Daroach looked over his whole crew, who were in his temporary quarters. It was getting stuffy, actually.

"...yeah, that's everyone. Great," Daroach confirmed, his voice still monotone.

"Wow, thank you for your praise!" Taranza thanked the mouse sarcastically in response to the captain's monotone voice.

"Look, I'm tired as hell, and I'd rather take my rest seriously. Can you all just leave?"

The group of mice exited the room. Taranza ended up being escorted by the last mouse to exit.

"The captain's grumpy when he's tired, just let him rest and we'll be fine."

"Alrighty, then. I think now is a good time to find your boat, huh?" Taranza commented, shifting the topic.

"Probably, yeah," the Squeak nodded, scurrying off.

_A shout would do._

"Magolor, we're going to find the rickety old ship; set sail!"

* * *

Magolor took a look at the Energy Sphere count.

The lot found in the ocean was enough to net him his turbo speed back. There's only a few left, and they should be the last of them.

That's what Magolor got planned, anyhoo.

With a rioting owl and Rick and Kine resting, he was in no position to start purging the Jamba Heart from Coo without consent from her friends. At least, that's what he thinks he should do, just to let them know her condition.

He had them all planned, until Taranza threw that extra event in there.

Now, he's supposed to juggle between the things he wanted to do.

But who wants to do that? So, Magolor turned to his next option; multitasking.

He's got the ship on automatic, making the slightest correction here and there, whilst figuring out how to best purge the heart away.

"You have reached your destination."

Ah, right.

"Cut off the engine, please."

The engine turned off.

Well, now that they're here, he'd always wanted to try and do an announcement sort of style with his informative speeches.

"DESTINATION REACHED, NEXT STOP'S AT…"

…

Most of the mice were migrating back to their ship, sans Daroach and his most loyal supporters.

In the meantime, Magolor went to ask Rick and Kine if he could perform (potentially) dangerous acts in order for their owl friend to be rid of the curse.

"Yeah, sure! I'll take that chance any day! Coo needs to be rid of that heart!" was the response he got from Kine, while Rick simply nodded and supported Kine's statement.

"You sure?" Magolor reiterated.

"Yes, we're sure, erm, Magolor, was it?"

"Yep. Name's Magolor, and I'm here to help your friend out."

Magolor slammed an attack directly at the owl's head.

Rick and Kine winced at the hit.

Coughs ensued.

A dark heart came out of Coo's beak, with the host unconscious and still.

Kine flopped over to see his friend, with Rick following up beside him.

Certain priorities came first.

For Magolor, who did not want to cut in the middle of their moment, simply grabbed hold of the heart and booked it back to his cabin.

_Certain_ memories swirled around in his head. He ignored them. It was _false broken betray power Landia fire dimension_

The jar.

Magolor slammed the heart in and shut it immediately.

It wriggled around for a bit before settling down.

Seemed like it just tired itself out.

Magolor breathed a sigh of relief, glad for everything to be over, and this time, went proper vacation mode.

"Lounging by the beach…"

* * *

Taranza was carrying Daroach to his cabin. It is… ongoing steadily.

As steady as you can get with cooperation, that is.

"Watch your step next time!" Doc yelled out.

"I know, I know…"

Tripping on one rock sends the whole team down with you.

"Oi, that rock over there seems mighty evil."

Taranza glared at the rock.

"You… watch out for me."

Spinni laughed at that, nearly falline himself.

After that small talk, Taranza went on, and resumed his help with the transport of the mices' captain.

…

"We're here, finally!"

"Yahoo!"

Daroach, who somehow made it out of the not so steady transport unscathed, slept peacefully at his bed.

"Right, I'm gonna skedaddle; seeya!"

"Yup!"

Taranza bid his farewell to the four three mice, Storo being silent the whole time, as they waved at him.

_Well, we aren't on limited time now; how about he get started on my _own _flying technique?_

After moving a good distance or so, Taranza weaved together a fabric of web.

Testing its flexibility, the spider started to jump on it normally. _'Seems good enough,'_ he noted, as he moved on to the next step of his plan. Finding a high enough area for him to then fall onto the fabric.

A tree branch was chosen for that.

Right. He really hoped this worked.

Jump…!

He neared the web, as his hands touched the web. The web, stretching from his weight, took in his mass before shooting the arachnid out in a well paced speed.

It more or less worked as intended, with a lower speed than what Taranza was hoping for. He sort of ragdolled in the air too, so he needed to work on that.

"Oh wait fu-"

He also needed to work on his landing. _And his memory._

Well, he had aimed for Magolor's ship. And it definitely on sight. Just that… it was off was a good amount.

Taranza landed in the water with a huge splash, surfacing soon after he involuntarily plunged into the sea.

"Okay… Let's not do that again…"

He was wet, and he was cold. Now, he'll have to swim.

Taranza did not dare to try a second attempt on that method and began to swim.

…

"I'm here!"

Magolor sat on his seat, back turned.

"Where were you?" Magolor asked, before turning to look at Taranza.

"Oh."

Taranza was dripping wet. He smelled awful, and he smirked at his appearance.

"I didn't know you'd like this."

"I don't, _really_."

"Ah." There was silence.

"...should I?" Taranza began.

"You probably should, yeah."

"Alright. Any clean water up here?"

"Two rooms to your left, walk across the hallway, it'll be at the end."

Taranza nodded. "Yup, thanks."

Taranza headed to his left to clean himself up.

* * *

Magolor took a look at the energy sphere scanner.

One remained.

And it's at the deepest and dumbest location yet.

How had he missed it? Magolor thought he had already gotten the sphere.

He did indeed go there, but only to grab the much easier to grab energy sphere.

There were two, which landed so close together, but at different altitudes, about a difference of thirty meters.

He certainly wasn't chancing his trips, and now he'll have to go back there.

This elicited a groan from Magolor, mumbling about the predicament.

"If I go today, we might still make it…"

Magolor peeked at the sun. Midway through the sky.

It was noon.

"Might be able to make it… alright. Set sail, then…"

Magolor flipped a lever and pressed the launch button on his controls.

The ship whirred to life, before zooming off alone, leaving the Squeak Squad in their ship partying and taking care of their captain.

"Initiate _Turbo Speed_, Magolor?"

"Yeah, sure."

The ship kept on moving faster until up to "Turbo Speed".

The travel shouldn't be that long. It'll be the sea that'll give Magolor his problem.

"Diving equipment…"

The times when such deep diving benefit from his equipment.

He made a run to his storage room and nabbed two diving gears.

Taranza'll just have to get wet again. Well, _not_.

…

"Magolor, are you kidding me?"

Taranza was not happy.

"I was just done with bathing, and you ask me to get myself clogged up in seawater again? Hell no, mate!"

Magolor had expected this.

"Yeah, don't worry. Here." Magolor thrusted a bottle to Taranza. "Some water-repellent liquid. Probably oil or something, but it won't harm you. Just make sure it gets covered over your entire body, no blank spots."

Taranza's four hands shook Magolor's hand.

"Oho, thank you. You wouldn't believe me how much trouble I went through swimming here."

Oh, Magolor believed him alright. Nobody would go out of their way to jump into the sea and yell at him to lower a ladder or a net so that they can climb up.

"Right. Wear this, too."

Magolor handed Taranza a breather.

"Location'll be the deepest trench you'll see, by the way. It's kind of obvious, the problem is just finding the thing in the dark. That's where you come in. You can provide me light and I'll secure us from crush depth and pressure."

"Alright, sure. I tell you, if this lotion doesn't work…"

"Yeah, uh, it'll work, trust me."

* * *

"I'm not convinced that you've managed to get me to agree to this."

"Eh, you're here now, so that's that."

Taranza tilted his head at Magolor.

"Well, yeah. Of course I'm here."

"Right, okay- GERONIMO!"

Magolor chucked himself off the deck and into the water.

"Showoff. It's not like I can shout 'Geronimo' too… Well, I suppose he'll be having fun."

Taranza plunged deep into the water himself.

The instant he landed in water, he checked his condition.

"...I'm not wet? Huzzah!"

Magolor swam to him, having moved out of the way when Taranza jumped after him.

He pointed to his breather, before signalling the number one.

_An hour._ With the crush depth.

They'll have to be quick on this one.

Taranza made a thumbs up in return.

The duo dove deep into the water. Taranza began to notice the darkness surrounding himself as he dove deeper.

He pulled out a light ball before it fizzled out due to water rushing into his hands.

He settled for a small glow via spreading the energy over his hand, not forming it into a ball. As he checked with Magolor, he nodded in confirmation that his light was on.

Magolor couldn't be seen nodding back, but at least he dove even deeper than before, so hey. That's good.

…

40 minutes into their dive. They were at the deepest point now. Magolor began scouting his area for his energy sphere.

_There it is!_

Magolor reached for it, releasing it from a prison of two jagged rocks, holding the ball up as if it was some trophy.

He signalled Taranza, who was nearby to help scout for enemies in the water as he carried the sphere up to the surface.

Its glistening glassy surface did indeed attract some enemies who proclaimed (in a rude manner) that they wanted the sphere.

Yeah, that wasn't happening.

Taranza just fired his own sphere, and all of their attackers scurried off.

They were nearly at the surface.

"Mrphmth!"

Taranza ducked under again, as Magolor, who holding the energy sphere spun around, trying to not get his hands bitten.

A humongous shark had followed them.

_'The crowd of fish probably attracted the shark,'_ Magolor reasoned.

_In either case, I can't let you go._

Magolor dropped the sphere and blasted the shark with his attack. He quickly swam down to get the sphere back after landing the blast attack on its target.

The shark swam down too, and ate Magolor whole with the sphere.

Taranza took that as an opportunity to dive up and deliver a light sphere to its underbelly. He'd try webs, but webs wasn't the best option in his current environment.

The shark yelped in pain before blasting apart from the inside.

Turns out, Magolor had blown the shark from the inside. Well, at least its head.

The carcass of the shark floated, before heading up ever so slowly. Magolor seemed shaken that he was eaten, but Taranza patted (or tried to pat, what's with all the water and what not) Magolor's back in an attempt to calm him down.

It… had mixed results.

Magolor was not calm, not one bit.

He was frantic, though he kept himself steady, his posture in the water unmoving.

They both got out of the water soon after that.

"I am _dead_ tired of the ocean, and I will not come here ever again…!" Magolor shouted out, proclaiming his opinion.

"I had enough searching for my blasted spheres down here and _that_," Magolor pointed to the dead shark in order to prove his point, "...is my tipping point!"

"Screw the ocean, screw this pla-"

Magolor stopped as he saw a lot more than just one shark at the distance, attracted by the new food they've just seen.

"Runrunrunrunholyshittttt!"

Magolor paced his swim much quicker, and booked it.

"Oi, wait up for m- oh no."

Taranza was surrounded.

"Okay… wanna go?"

And the sharks went at him and the dead carcass.

…

Magolor was extremely lucky during his past dives. Not a single shark encountered, or whatever those things are called.

This time though… it was hell, and he did not plan on swimming ever again.

He had thankfully, much to the joy of Taranza, helped the spider up onto the ship, not just leaving him behind. Again.

They changed their clothes (with what spare clothes they did have), Magolor sporting an unusual green robe with white accents shaped much like his usual clothes.

Taranza had opted to use the same clothing he splashed in the sea with, and dried himself out at the deck, unconvinced that the dry clothing was actually dry. Actually, he was using it as an excuse to sunbathe.

_A quick travel to Daroach's ship to inform them of our departure… and then straight to the mountains._

He needed those last few spheres, after all. To chase after the Jamba Heart, he needed them all…

In order to do easy and quick planetary travel, of course. Safer option, too…, what's with the energy spheres covering all possible situations, powering up the main computer of the ship. Sometimes, Magolor swore there was an ego in that thing.

Clack. Click.

"And off we go."

The ship launched at high speeds now, different to its state back when they were fighting Whispy.

Magolor slumped back in his chair.

He needed a real good sleep. A deep sleep.

Nevermind all the nightmares that'll show due to his encounter with terrifying sharks. He didn't know those exist… and in such large groups, too!

Magolor snored away on his chair, head flicking back and forth, eventually settling on a downward position.

…

"Wake up, Magolor. You have arrived at your destination."

"Mnghhh."

Magolor rose up and stood. The ship had woke him up. Good, he supposed.

"Yeah…. thanks…"

"My pleasure, Magolor."

The pilot walked out to the deck, seeing the Squeak Squad ready and set to sail even more. Of course, he was going to them with intention to leave.

"Let's get this done."

Magolor floated down a ramp onto the ground, before going into the sea captain's ship. Into the cabins he went, as Magolor visited the now less injured captain on his bed.

"Yeah, hello." Daroach gave a rough smile.

"I'm set to sail, but my crew keeps holding me back. I was going to hand temporary control over to one of my crew. We were just packing up, actually. Have you got anything to ask?" Darocah continued.

"Well, me and Taranza are actually going to leave in order to pursue Kirby."

"Well. That's nice, ain't it? ...Go for it. We won't hold you back. Just give us a holler when you need our help sometimes. I itch for a good battle, you know?"

"Yep. Sure, I can do that when we're in trouble. Well, this is goodbye then?"

"...it is."

"Alright, uh. Goodbye…?"

"Goodbye, Magolor. May you succeed with the _child of light_."

"Really weird, though. Kinda pretentious…" Daroach added.

…

Magolor was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to understand that, but due to Taranza's past info, he now knew what the rat was talking about. He was supposed to journey with Taranza. Fate had it in him to go brave the horizon with the spider, filled with his own problems.

...Magolor found that interesting. This deep in the adventure, and he might've gotten bored. Everyday has been… eventful, to say the least, in his adventure, more so than when he was back in Halcandra, or worse, Another Dimension….

Whatever's in store for him in the future, he certainly will be entertained for some time.

Magolor stretched his hands and walked back to the ship.

"Wait!"

Magolor turned back to the ground. Taranza, who was still on deck, is now awake, falling asleep soon after their arrival at the Squeak Squad.

On the ground though, as Magolor and Taranza see it, were three individuals.

"We want to go with you…!"

* * *

AN:

Yes, this chapter's late. I needed to balance out some things, and writing ended up taking its toll on me, so a break gave me that. Plus, I had been ridden with writing block for quite a while…

We finally see the end of the sea, and now moving on into side characters, omakes, and extras.

That's great and all, and I sure do wish that you'll stick around for this fic.


	15. Omake - Extraterrestrial Enigmas

**Star's Allies**

**Omake - Extraterrestrial Enigmas**

**Halloween Special**

* * *

**WARNING: THIS IS NOT CANON. HERE'S THE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL!**

It was night out, with the ship's passengers asleep. Well, except for the few who weren't sleeping.

"Magolor, when will the ship be ready?"

"Soon enough, Taranza. I just to input the last few commands and-"

"Activated Dimensional Transport." The ship blared loudly.

"What? No." Magolor denied that prompt. Click. Click.

"Prompt deactivated."

A sigh.

"Taranza… what did you press?"

Taranza, who had neared one of the buttons, simply hid his hands behind his back with an awkward smile.

"Well… the ship isn't ready, so I'm helping it get ready…?"

"Terrible excuse, now stand there," Magolor pointed, "and _don't do anything_. I need to set up the energy spheres again… I fear that… mumble mumble."

Magolor had gotten too far away for Taranza to hear clearly. So, that egg had presented him with a chance. He was well, going to take it. His curiosity peaked.

"Ohoho. Button..!"

Click. The ship's voice came up.

"Would you like activate Dimensional Transport?"

"Yes!" Taranza said, imitating Magolor's voice.

"Booting. Accepted protocol. Opening portal."

Taranza jumped in joy. He was going to witness interdimensional travel…! He knew this would be his own goal after he read the Lor's manual, without Magolor's permission.

"Portal… unstable due to insufficient energy spheres. Going in would be ill advised. Would you still like to continue?" The ship warned the arachnid.

"Yes, yes, of course! Wait, did you say unstable?"

"Entering."

"Wait a sec, hold on, hold on! I didn't-" Taranza began to try and rectify his mistake. He pressed every button, every lever. It, uh, boosted the travel speed. And the ship was now travelling at a terrible route in random without enough energy spheres, with an unstable portal.

Magolor burst out from the power room.

"Taranza what the hell-"

BAM! The ship hit something.

More thumps were heard across the ship. It was getting bumpy.

"What- in the hell did you do!?" Magolor yelled, his face not so calm, holding on for dear life on his chair.

Taranza looked pale and said, "Well, uh. Yeah. That miiiight be a problem. I, uh- BUMP! -pressed the Transport Mode thing…" Taranza said that last part with a much meeker voice, now actually worried that the ride wasn't actually what he wanted.

"Just- ugh, hold on, and I'll- I'll figure something out!" Magolor cried, as he looked over the mess his screen was showing. The Lor was getting damaged, and soon, it might crack from the dimensional flux that was their 'unstable' portal.

"Lor."

"Yes, Magolor?"

"Can I reroute the ship into a stable dimension?"

"Yes… finding closest dimension… closest dimension is forty degrees to your left. Make the turn in five seconds."

CRASH.

Things weren't looking so good now.

"5."

More of the ship is being shaken, as their now awake passengers wondered what is going on.

"Oi, Magolor buddy, what is going on…?"

They were half-asleep and not in the mindset for this. They, being Rick, Kine, and Coo.

"4."

"TURN, TURN NOW!" Taranza frantically yelled.

"IT SAID IN FIVE SECONDS, JUST WAIT…!"

"3."

Something snapped, creating a banshee-like wail.

"2."

Flashes of blue, green and red turned over and over across their visions. Magolor remained focused.

"1."

"...0."

"Turn!"

Magolor turned the ship, as they sailed straight into a much stabler dimension. "Yahoo!" Taranza congratulated them.

"Magolor, you did it!"

CRASH!

The rumbling become earthquakes, shaking them to the core. They had landed on a planet.

"That ain't good." Magolor deadpanned, as the ship was in no state to fly. Lucky them, the main parts were quite fine. The problem lies in the condition of the _rest_ of the ship.

"Well. We might be stuck here, for the time being. The ship is in no state to safely endure that trip again."

Taranza's face turned white, as he processed what meant.

"Our home… we… This is my fault, innit?" Taranza blamed himself.

"Mostly your fault. I have no idea why Lor decided to accept your commands, but I'll ensure that won't happen in the future. Now then… we can't just dawdle here. Our food supply _will_ run out at some point, as well as our water supply."

"Hol' on, hol' on. You saying we're dumped in an alien planet?" Rick asked.

"Uh, yeah. More of less."

"I'm… not really keen on going out. Especially when I am not in the correct state of mind to do so. I will just… comprehend our situation in private." Coo spoke, returning back to her room albeit with a worried face.

Kine shrugged and followed her.

"Right, uh… We'll just be back at the ship. Get it fixed as soon as possible, _please._"

"Yeah. It just needs time. I'd say two days until we can board again, tops. Give the healing time to happen on the ship. After the external shield is up, we can start our journey back home. We'll just explore while we're here."

"Right. Come back safe, arright?"

The animal trio headed back into the ship.

…

Exploration took its toll on the two who went for it. Mainly, Taranza, because he felt responsible for the whole fiasco.

"This forest is way too big… even Whispy Woods back home ain't this big…"

"Taranza. Stay focused."

The two travelled through the thick woods, and found themselves out of the forest after an hour of walking.

"Hf… how long until the night?"

"Not that long, by the looks of it."

The sun was slightly larger compared to what they usually have, but that's adaptable.

It was heading into sunset, however.

"Right… we need shelter, quick."

"Build it, I'd say. I'll go gather." Taranza volunteered, using his web to pull down wood and leaves.

Magolor worked on the look and functionality of their makeshift shelter, as Taranza returned with a good amount of wood, sticks, and leaves to use.

A good few hours, and they've made themselves a small camp.

Taranza lit a fire by burning the wood, and grabbed some food from a stash they had brought with them when they set out.

"This… isn't the best situation."

"Yes, I know, I'm sorry; just, er, sorry."

Magolor looked apprehensive at their location, with Taranza worrying all the while.

They weren't getting good sleep tonight.

* * *

Moments in the morning were the most crucial part of survival. For Magolor, that meant pulling out a packaged meal.

_"It's decent." He thought._

He'll just have to give Taranza another energy packet to help him power through the day.

_Ah, he's stirring from his slumber._

"Wh-wha…?"

"Yeah, eat this." Magolor threw him a small packet. That'll be your breakfast for today."

No complaints came from Taranza as he munched on the energy packet.

Back to exploring they went after their small breakfast, bringing their shelter with them.

They passed some train tracks on their way, though they do not know what exactly is the line of steel for.

A small house was visible in the distance, a house made out of logs, its ceiling a downward sloped shape. Magolor noted a sign he passed by.

"You want to check out that house?" Magolor offered to Taranza, who was nibbling once in a while on the remaining food inside his mouth.

"Of course! Hopefully, they can help us. Fat chance, though…"

…

They knocked on the door. Courtesy first.

They had noticed an odd assortment of pumpkins around the house. That was well, holed with faces cut into them.

The door opening brought back their attention to the new creature towering over them. It looked like Coo, except it was sporting red with a much larger beak than normal, wearing a t-shirt; again, something the duo did not know.

"Ah, trick-o-treaters? Ah- come in, please. My name is Amelie..."

Magolor looked at Taranza over his shoulder, and walked in. Inside had an even weirder assortment of items.

"Just, uh, wait for me a minute. You're kinda early, though. It isn't night yet…. The mayor said it would be later..."

The strange tall feathery creature went to the back of his house.

Magolor pondered around meekly into the multiple rooms. Taranza, with nothing better to do, followed him.

They check a room, with a much shorter version of the creature which had offered them to go inside the building. Inside was an assortment of boxes, screens, and overall random items.

There was a monitor placed on a shelf, as the odd creature held some sort of white remote in his hand...wings. The monitor showed Magolor… some peculiar things.

A 'dialogue box' popped up, announcing its message to the creature. It was… him?

"What the hell is going on…? I'm there?"

Taranza peered over Magolor's head. "Uh. Yeah. You're there. And you're here."

The noise the two made distracted the player. He looked at the door, and paused his game.

"Hey, nice Magolor costume. I've been meaning to get my mom to help make me one… but he doesn't have an inch of knowledge in Magolor's clothing…"

_Costume…_?

The bird boy, who looked much like Amelie except with his own feather style and blue color, noticed Taranza behind Magolor. "Ah, Taranza costume too? Pretty well made, I'd say. even accurate to the height…"

"Anyways, well, I'm Sparrow, and you both are…?"

Magolor and Taranza did not respond to that.

"...are you mute or something?"

_I don't know what mute is, but I'll roll with it._

Magolor nodded, still not uttering a word. Taranza copied his gestures.

"Huh. Well-"

"Hey, I brought the candy, even though its one day early. Sparrow, have you- oh, you're here already. Hand the candy to these two, will you?"

The candy was about as big as their head.

Taranza nearly gawked at the size of it.

Magolor and Taranza each received a piece of the oversized candy.

A sigh came from Amelie. "You know, you're lucky I stock the candy so early in the month. The _Nooks_ really hooked me up with their seasonal programs... "

"Oh, by the way… can you both stay here for a while with Sparrow? He's sorta a loner, and I'd really appreciate it if you can socialize with him."

Taranza nodded at her before Magolor could.

"Mom, I don't need friends… K.K. sang it in one of his songs..."

"Sparrow, you need 'em, so now go with… these two and play some games or something, I don't know what kids these days play anymore. Back before the mayor improved our quality of life, I was a young bird..."

Amelie trailed off into his childhood, as Sparrow led Magolor and Taranza further into his room. The two were confused, but rolled with it. It would seem too suspicious if they left right now.

His room was filled with different slabs of different colors, some black with a green logo, others white or full on black with some blue accents, and small wires hanging all over the place. A bouncy sofa was what the young bird sat on.

"Right, so uh… What should we play?"

Magolor pointed forward at the pause menu.

"Just this? Alright then. Let me hand you two some spare controllers."

He went into his closet and pulled out two sticks of white, with its name written on the bottom, with four slots which lit up as Sparrow clicked on them.

"Sync… and there we go." The blue bird handed the two remotes to Magolor and Taranza, who were still very, very confused as to how they got in this predicament. They had just wanted to kill time…

Sparrow unpaused the game and moved… Kirby.

Magolor had a twitch of nostalgia as he recognised his own ship, with _himself_ standing there as Sparrow exited the ship.

It showed him the landscape of Halcandra, boiled down into a level select.

Taranza watched as Magolor winced at the planet.

_Oh boy. This won't be good._

"Actually; I just need extra help on the boss. Are you two comfortable?"

The two nodded.

"Okay then. Starting the level, and we should win this time…"

This _time? Hell, it took Kirby a single try to down Landia. What was this kid talking about?_

Magolor gripped the remote much harder than he was holding it before. Kirby ain't dead at that fight, and neither will he at this one.

They started the level, as Landia swooped down and the fight started.

They played different characters, as per Sparrow's request (he needed variety on attacks).

Sparrow's health, in particular, was starting to go red.

"Oh come on, just split up already…"

A few seconds of button mashing and idiotic plays made by Taranza and Magolor, and Landia was on her second phase.

A few minutes passed of Taranza or Magolor blocking and taking hits for the young bird, preventing his health from getting much lower.

And soon enough…

"Yes..!" Sparrow cried in excitement.

Landia lay on the ground, not moving as the screen faded to black and they were treated to a cutscene.

Magolor instantly recognised this scene.

_Nooooope._

Magolor held Taranza's hands and went for the door.

"Oh, you're leaving?" the bird asked.

Magolor gave him a nod.

"Ah, that's okay. Thanks for helping me! Now then…" He focused on the cutscene.

As Magolor left the house with Taranza, he heard a distinct "wait, what!?" from the boy, and he booked it along with the spider into the woods, past the train tracks, and into the forest.

"That… we're never going there again."

Magolor denied Taranza to look at that scene. One of his more… shameful moments.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing. Just some thing Kirby asked for. Right then. Back to the ship."

Magolor ended the conversation then and there.

* * *

By the time they had arrived back at the ship, night had hit them, the moon a full moon with light prowling in the dark.

Magolor went in his control room and pulled up a status check.

"External Shields: on."

That was their key.

"I'm bringing the ship as far as we can go. Hold on…!"

The Lor Starcutter opened another portal vertically on top of them, the star-shaped hole unique to its own destination.

They launched up and up like a rocket and passed into the portal, disappearing into whispers.

The sky devolved into the night as Sparrow, wearing his impromptu costume of a pumpkin head and some black cloth.

Sparrow had exited his house, remembering those two who came in his house.

His mother had asked him to find Jack, and honour his code in Halloween.

As he grabbed his small basket and went off in search of sweets, he caught the slightest glimpse of the otherworldly portal.

Paying no heed to it, he stepped forward for what seemed to be a great Halloween in town. The mayor was going to participate again this year, like always!

He was darn excited, and no pranks are going to fall on him this time!

…

"Unstable portal. Unstable portal."

Their external shield was being chipped away like last time. This time though, Magolor was husy maneuvering the ship all over, avoiding what could've been more damage to the already hole-ridden ship.

"Critical error on external shield, Magolor. Deactivation imminent."

"Closest dimension, Lor?"

"Right thirty degrees in three seconds."

Magolor smoothly made the turn and watched as they exited the portal into the sky, with a beach and a small cliff overlooking it. On the cliff were gem apple trees, stalls, and a job board.

Magolor landed the ship in the water on the beach, as he was sure the locals wouldn't really ask him too much about it.

Magolor and Taranza wandered around for a bit, again waiting for the ship to heal itself.

This time though, they were accompanied by Rick, Kine and Coo, who wanted the fresh air of the sea.

"What a beauty, this beach is!" Coo complimented, smoothing out her feathers.

"Well, it _is_ a beach, sister. I think they're supposed to _have_ good views." Kine replied.

Magolor and Taranza on the other hand, walked up onto the cliff, where they encountered a small settlement.

"Ello, Mr. Shopkeeper!" A young voice called out to them, with some eagerness in his voice.

Kirby came up to Magolor, with adventurer's gear strapped on him.

"You said you needed these gem apples as payment, right? I remember the ones, betcha you don't!"

_I don't, because I'm not from around here._

Magolor still accepted the apples and kept his previous thought silent.

_What are we, thieves now?_

_Soul, don't chide me like that. I'll take the opportunity to replenish my supply again…_

Magolor uttered a 'thank you' to Kirby as the pink puffball skipped away, joining a larger group of Kirbys…?

There were four, with a yellow one holding a mallet, a blue one being a mage (or at least that's what Magolor's guess is the clothing was a bit misleading) and a green one, providing heals, with glasses and a good hat.

They seemed to be good friends, even though sometimes the yellow one would bicker with pink's cheeriness.

"Now now now, ain't that bad to steal, stranger? Them gem apples are mine. I was the one who's the shopkeeper, not you."

Magolor whipped around and saw himself.

A Magolor with green and white on his clothes.

"I'd say, I don't look half bad in blue… say, you seem like me… Are you some long lost cousin or something?"

Magolor booked it right then and there. He didn't care for the now pissed off Magolor, the attacks thrown at him, or the impromptu bounty placed on his head. That question one he _must_ ignore.

The green Magolor stared at Taranza, who was still there.

"Pay up before I smack you and your friend deep in the slammer."

For a Magolor, this one seemed much more aggressive.

"Yeah, no."

Taranza followed suit.

Magolor yelled obscenities over him, and a bounty was also pressed on his head, as the Shoppe Magolor threw attacks at the running duo.

He jumped on the Lor and with the rest of the gang (Coo, Rick and Kine dragged in by blue Magolor)

fled off the planet.

The shield may be half recharged, but it'll last until their next destination before home.

"Lor, can we not face these people again?"

Thankfully, the Lor picked up on his tone.

"Marked dimension as 'do not visit'."

"Thank you," Magolor thanked the ship.

"...ready to go, Magolor?" Taranza queried.

"Yup, now… just flip this lever and we're off!"

Lor vanished like a dream, much to the dismay of the Magolor of that dimension, who had located the ship a tad bit too late.

* * *

The ship was sailing smoothly now. Atleast, in Taranza's eyes. For Magolor… it was just enough power to keep it stable, especially with the outer hull starting to reform back.

They started to relax.

"Well, smooth sailing 'till our dimension, huh?" Taranza commented.

"True. There shouldn't be any problems left. Just wait for the moment in time where we arrive."

Too bad a sinking feeling overcame Taranza.

His gut feeling showed him the possibility that they might encounter some problems anyway.

_Taranza, you okay? Things are shaking up in here…_

A voice overcame him.

After his encounter with the mysterious figure who popped up in the colosseum battle, he'd come to know the soul inside of him.

_I mean, uh, I just have a terrible feeling that the chances of us not making it home…_

_I haven't been talking for a while, and this is what you've been up to? I'd say that you need to calm down._

_Ehh.. I suppose you're right. We are safe now. With Magolor's expertise, we'll be fine._

_There ya go! That's the attitude!_

_I want to talk with you some more, soul…_

…

beep beep beep beep beep

Magolor's stress struck eleven.

* * *

The ship got rocky quick, as Magolor swept his ship across the space in between dimensions.

"It is advisable to locate your nearest safe dimension before the rogue dimension gets us."

A rogue dimension, one that has fallen into ruin, came crashing straight for the Lor Starcutter. Its captain won't let it crash.

A swerve over and under. The dimension kept getting bigger. They were past their target dimension now. A return trip will be needed.

All this while Taranza is conked out…

Oh, boy.

"Located safe dimension at ✩※ «●»"

The ship started talking gibberish as the rogue dimension got to the closest it will ever get to.

Magolor dove down into a dimension he spotted.

…

The Lor flew into the air and landed by a swamp.

None of its inhabitants paid any attention (they didn't see it anyway).

Magolor exited the ship.

"Great, now that _that_ is in the way, I have to wait for it to pass through…"

He wandered around the swamp. Its waters were purple, oozing a smell so strong with nearly made Magolor puke.

The sky was at the crack of dawn.

Magolor waited and waited.

As he got slightly ways away from his ship, a woman wearing a hat ran and ran. Well, it was much more accurate to call her a hag. She took a broom and multiple bottles with her, hanging on a belt.

The woman noticed Magolor as she ran. She gave him a warning as she ran. Her hand holding her broom started to swoop down, too.

"Oh Din, the _poes_ are out to feast too!? Run for your life, ghost! The moon-"

The woman's warning came to a halt as she got too far away to talk anymore, flying with her broom into the dreary sky.

"The moon…?"

Magolor took a look at the moon.

It was an amalgamation of multiple terrors. It was so close to the planet that he understood at once why the woman panicked so much. It had a haunting face, one which looked like a cackling madman. A laugh came to fit the face too, as someone's echoing laugh made it all the way to him.

Whatever the hell happened here, Magolor wasn't about to partake in it.

He ran back into his ship.

Inside the Lor, he gripped the control panel quite hard.

He was panicking to get them out _now_.

The portal opened. Lor turned to face it. The spaceship fled the about-to-be-ruined world with its star-shaped dimensional hole.

Elsewhere in that world…

"Link, this is it. The ending. No more Song of Time."

* * *

By the time Magolor had exited, he turned tail and relocated their home dimension, launching back into travel.

The whole experience had been nerve-racking. He himself had never brought out his ship's capabilities this far.

Mainly due to fear itself.

Taranza slowly rose from his 'talk'.

"Well… the travel's been quite long, huh? How close are we?"

Magolor breathed in and out. "Pretty close," he rasped.

"...something wrong?"

Oh, everything was wrong. All of it because of his worrying over the ship's condition, his _passengers'_ conditions, and a lot more factors he worried about.

"A lot of things, Taranza. I'm tired… I think I'll take a nap after this is all done."

Dead ahead was their home.

Only time would take them to it.

No more obstacles.

* * *

The ship passed into the dimension, overhead of Dedede's Kingdom.

"Aha, fresh air! Haha!"

Taranza leapt out to the deck, eyes closed and in joy. The animal trio followed him, albeit some ways behind. Magolor came out, too, grinning like a fool. They were home.

"I told you, it'll be fine! It'll be fine-"

…

The stalk.

Sectonia was in it.

She wasn't supposed to be there. The lands were overgrown.

Trees overtaken by shimmering flowers.

The castle gutted by plantlife.

The sky a truly blossoming night.

As they landed on a giant flower, the travellers could only gawk at the sight.

This wasn't Dreamland. This is no Popstar.

A Dedede came up to them, his kingly clothes torn apart, his mantle now a dull grey. He looked as unkingly as a king could be, below even the poorest inhabitant.

A flower was on top of him. On his head. It was planted deep into his skull.

He made no sound. Only movement. His dull, glazed eyes were visible in the moonlight.

It wove at them like an old friend would, before dropping to the ground as the flower's roots pierced through the king's skull, into and out of his eyes, through his beak, and tearing his cells apart, flowering into a beautiful specimen.

"What the hell…" Taranza swore, now visibly shaken by the horror.

"We _might_ be in the wrong dimension," Magolor stated.

* * *

"Act two will air _someday_ in the future! For now, the show has ended! Hang in anticipation as the crew stumbles upon a flower-ridden Dreamland!"

…

…

…

An uproar of clapping ensued. Their halloween play was successful.

Kirby clapped them on as Dedede removed the fake flower from his head.

Hyness bowed as the narrator of the tale, Magolor giving him a good handshake.

Their audience was plentiful, made up from Waddle Dees to Kracko, and others who were interested.

They had been wearing costumes, in spirit for the season of hallow. Kirby himself was wearing a cute little witch hat with a robe (Francisca deemed the puffball 'cute' wearing it).

Some Waddle Dees dressed up as ghosts, while others as skeletons.

The Mage Sisters themselves even came up with Flamberge running into the stage as part of the play, wearing all the typical clothes needed for the part.

Francisca herself dressed up as a fairy and played a part, too.

Zan Partizanne handled all the lighting, especially the spooky pumpkin strewn around the stage.

Susie, Meta Knight, and Galacta Knight came on as the Kirby party (Susie complained that she did not look like a Kirby at all, to which Meta countered by handing her a hollow ball and told her to work with it).

Daroach himself even arrived with his ship decorated as a ghost ship for the event as a cameo.

Spinni had some fun standing around with a sword.

Storo and some others moved around the props.

Amelie and her son were never shown in full view, as Coo did not want to get her family involved, so they had to resort to some… peculiar methods.

Methods involving Marx being stacked on top of some Squeaks.

They even had the People of the Sky lend them a hand with Sectonia's part (the queen herself was too busy).

As a roll call ensued, the actors and event planners stepped up on stage for the final bow.

…

_Magolor turned to the audience, his head up high_

_and all others copied him, none with a sigh_

_'cause 'tis is the season of fall and joy_

_of masks, of pride, of spooks, of ploy_

_for none may match the eventful fall_

_that Dreamland saw, in one swift call_

...

A shout rang out from all of the cast, as they bowed down.

...

**"HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!"**

* * *

AN:

A fun sequence I thought I would throw for you guys in the spirit of Halloween. Again, this is an omake; a **non-canon** part in the story! Pay it no heed to the continuous storyline of our crew!

I really had fun writing this one. Some games are put in there as cameos, with some brutally obvious hints as to what games they are. All in all, a pretty fun way to incorporate wacky and 'never would've happened' scenarios into the omake!

The console in the first dimension was inspired by those consoles (and the games you can play inside of them) that you can get in those games. If you can get _some_ games in _some _consoles, then why not Return to Dreamland?

Anyways, **Happy Halloween!**

icanwrite13: Hm. Thanks for the compliment.


	16. Chapter 12 - Soft Stories

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 12 - Soft Stories**

* * *

Galacta Knight found himself wandering through the castle halls, enjoying the bright and sunny morning. His mind went towards certain topics as he walked on the lush carpet a castle would have. Especially Meta Knight and that conversation he had a week ago…

…

"So, we split, then?"

"...yes."

That brief exchange was the prompt. And the two flew off, ship and wings to soar the sky.

Galacta found himself thinking on a situation back then.

Inside the Mirror.

He was caged in the crystal. Time and space brought him somewhere, and then summoned occasionally to fight Meta Knight, and that one time with… the pink Meta Knight.

He was certainly aware; just not aware of his surroundings, all pitch black until cracked open, as the crystal was not a crystal, and instead was powerful magic shaped like a crystal. The magic did not replicate the transparent properties of what a crystal might be.

He had no idea where he'd arrive next, as his sight was black, no sound passed through, and he could not tell if his crystal was cracked or not until it truly broke apart.

When Meta found him in the mirror… he was ecstatic.

…

Meta Knight was one stoic knight, as well as a guy who got too addicted in battle. He was determined to hunt down that dark copy of him, and today's the day he'll go and enter the mirror.

There were multiple entrances to the accursed mirror after all, named after multiple things, but in principle all the same.

He'd just need to find another mirror after the last one shattered in the heights of the sky.

And so, his search began. It lead him to a ruined city in the desert. It was desolate and hot, nobody around for miles; just him, the ship, and his crew.

Following the clues was not easy, but he managed.

Silent as always, he searched around the nearly collapsing buildings and in the biggest one…

"...Bingo."

He could feel proud to have found an entrance. Time to set out and kill that dark fool.

Meta Knight flew into the mirror, its golden gaze inverted as the land became a hellhole of purple grass and sand. The sand was like quicksand, and the grass withering away like ashes in the wind.

Overall, the environment one would expect from a deserted and dark domain.

Gloomy and boring.

There was little of interest in the flipside of the mirror.

Dark Meta Knight didn't show up.

And Meta Knight soon started to take his leave…

...when he spotted _him_.

The crystal, encased in a spherical barrier, was hooked up to some crazy machine way too advanced for Meta Knight to comprehend.

_That _was new.

Galacta was inside some crazy doodad sparking all over the place with half-loose wires and giant… objects protruding out, facing the space-time warrior.

Meta Knight approached the object.

It was alien, with technology advanced enough for Meta Knight to not even get what to even look at.

There was no interface.

No cable.

All very clean and yet, old; ruined by time, as decay was evident around it.

Meta Knight took a look around the place.

Signs of life were non-existent. All there was is the mysterious machine and an encased Galacta Knight.

A portal soon opened below the crystal holding the warrior, a star-shaped hole, which led Galacta out of sight.

A few moments passed before the crystal came back, crackling slightly, as it was transported back into the machine.

The barrier pulsed a cold blue, and began to repair the crystal.

A laser shot out of the other machine, which penetrated both layers and straight at Galacta Knight.

The frozen warrior gave no emotion.

To this, Meta Knight had a feeling that this was a thing to be rid of.

He began turning back to the interface panel which he saw earlier.

Raised his sword.

"Hyah!"

Sliced the panel half-open.

The barrier responded furiously, shooting a wave of light everywhere.

The lasers began activating, beaming red everywhere.

Not to mention the horde of white bullets strewn all over the place once the panel was toyed with.

A voice played over the mess.

"T minus 60 seconds until self-destruct."

_Self-destruct…?_

Meta braved through the sea of projectiles, and started disabling the weapons.

One by one, he dodged and furiously hacked at the turret, lasers, and the main console of the machine.

"T minus 30 seconds."

_Faster…!_

He wouldn't let an explosion ruin the 'best knight in the galaxy'!

He must be the one to defeat and prove his own worth over him, after all.

All side weapons were gone. All that was left was the main barrier.

He turned and smashed the console.

"T minus 10 seconds."

That was not effective.

Alright then.

"T minus 8 seconds."

He charged up. The attack that Galacta usually did… can he replicate it?

"T minus 4 seconds."

He was nearly done charging. His sword's tip glowed an intense black.

It was done. He extended his arms forward-

"T minus 2 seconds."

The barrier cracked, breaking into a million pieces soon after.

"T minus 1 second."

The countdown did not stop. Meta Knight took it upon himself to swoop in and take the giant crystal away.

"T minus 0 seconds. Self-destruct."

The crystal was heavy, and Meta Knight did not anticipate the explosion to catch up to him so quickly-

A mushroom cloud expanded at the site of the machine, reducing it all to ash, and everything was gone.

The cloud went away as fast as it came.

Meta Knight came to a halt as he was grazed by the explosion.

The crystal was no more, however.

The explosion's power…

It drifted as energy into the crystal.

A focus, a resonation, if you will.

As if the main purpose of the machine had been this all along.

Galacta was unharmed, but unconscious, as Meta Knight took him with his spare hand out of the mirror world.

…

Back at his ship, he ordered his crew to lay the galactic warrior on a bed, and went to talk to the still unconscious man.

He awoke within the span of a couple hours.

"Wh… Another battle?"

A pause.

"My lance… where…"

"You're safe in my ship, Galacta Knight."

The pink knight turned to a masked Meta Knight.

"Ah, yes. My, I crave for another battle with you. But, before that, might I ask- safe from what?"

"From a terrible, terrible machine in the darkest mirror in Dreamland…"

And a story began.

…

Galacta was informed on afterwards, even offered to be Meta's friend by the knight himself, even extending a sparring offer.

He had grown from a knight who hungered for valor and pride to a humble knight who honored the _code_.

The code of knights.

He still had some doubts as to who even placed him in there, but he'll find out sometime.

Galacta kept walking past the castle towers and now at the outskirts, on top of the castle walls.

There, Dedede sat in his lounging chair, enjoying a game of chess with Bandana Dee.

Speaking of the King, Galacta was reminded of something..

A flash brought him back to Dedede's conversation.

* * *

"Be'n throu' a lo', huh?"

Dedede poured himself a cup of tea.

"Yep. Meta was busy handling that message to the rat."

"O' course. He's a wo'k-a-holi', takin' the job too seriously, I say."

Galacta set his cup down.

"In my eyes, a knight who does his work well should not be shamed at all by his king."

"That may be so, but he doesn't wo'k fo' me, Galacta."

"He's a wild card."

_A wild card?_

This was questioned.

"A wild card, yeah. He once tried to rule Dreamland to get us all productive, ya' know." Dedede refilled his tea.

"He does 'is own jobs and puts 'is priority based on 'is own whims, fueled by urgency or his desires. A king like me has no contro' ove' the madman," Dedede continued.

"Hm."

The king set his half-filled cup down.

"Lis'en. I'm hearin' your situahsion from Me'a Knight. You used to figh' 'im, and he broke ya out from some prison, so now you're here."

Galacta nodded.

The moonlight did not waver as the two conversed.

"Look, can I ask ya' a favour?"

"Of course."

"Meta Knight's kinda' the type of guy who needs friends, see? He got his crew, yeah, but not a guy who's obsessed to hell with fighting."

"Thou want I to go and becometh his friend?"

"Yeah. It keeps Meta Knight pre-occupied, and he looked like he needed an actual knight as a companion, ya' know?"

Galacta sat his cup down on the table. The tea was gone.

"Alright. We've sparred before at my request, but I'll make an effort to emphasize that 'friend' part to the honored knight. He seemed to have some thoughts floating around throughout this whole time, though."

"Mm. Well, you shou'd really try to buddy up with him. He'll like it."

Eventually, the topic stirred away from Meta Knight and moved onto other things.

The two talked deep into the night. They drank and drank until Galacta bid the king goodnight and sauntered off to his room inside the castle.

The next morning, Dedede went out to sort a deal with the young entrepreneur, Susie, about her involvement with Dreamland, as well as get her help in the effort to retrieve Kirby, especially because of her ship.

And that's where Galacta stood now, glancing through a window, still on the carpet, watching Dedede fling his arms around in order to drive in his point.

…

Meta's ship landed outside the castle.

The captain of the battleship exited the craft, and flew straight to the window where Galacta is waiting.

Luckily, the window was not equipped with glass.

Dedede didn't have to pay for repair damages (again).

"I have delivered my message. You said you wanted a spar?"

Time to put those words into action.

"Sure. Down at the bastille's arena; let us fight in good honour."

"Yes."

The two flew off, passing by an irate Dedede who was annoyed at how _complicated _the whole deal is, and drew their weapons mid-air, flanking and blocking in their spar.

With their weapons drawn and ready, with warm-ups out of the way, they began their 'spar', which resembles a true battlefield by the time they were done.

* * *

Conditions were normal at the Jamba base.

More and more hearts are returning… but somehow, Hyness still isn't satisfied with the small amount trickling in.

"The power, say? Broken and down! Gather more power, minions! Phyahahaha! Keke."

_Aaaaand the sisters obediently followed her._

_Seriously, am I the only lackey here who knows common sense to not fall into a power trip?_

_You could just obey them and gain your freedom, you know. No more dangling around with these types of people!_

Marx sighed.

_Ain't that easy, bucko. Kirby's still here, and I feel way too guilty if I leave him like that._

_Whatever Marx. Right now, your only escape plan including Kirby is a _box_. It's so pathetic, and there's a high chance we won't be able to even fly off the planet._

..._Kirby's been thinking too; from the stories he told to the ice cube, he had a phone that could call stars, and a magic sock._

His soul did not respond to that.

Marx remained silent, too.

He really needed to get out of here. Another discussion with Kirby would do…

Marx had been a regular at Kirby's 'room', so much so that the sisters don't suspect him anymore.

Well, their _trust_ was still wonky, but who cares about that once he escaped?

…

A regular at the cell.

Kirby paced around for the twentieth time in a day. Seven days in a row.

He was bored, bored, bored.

And the fact that there's _just_ a cramped window and an imposing steel door doesn't quite help it.

Thankfully, he'd have Marx to keep him company once every few days. And today was one of those days.

Marx jogged in, and shut the door with a push.

"I've got an actual plan now."

"Seriously? Tell me it, Marx. I've been bored to death by this hellhole villains call a 'cell'."

"Er… ahem. I've sorta, uh, listened in on your stories. And; waitholdon-"

The conversation was immediately interrupted by a sucking Kirby and a screaming Marx.

…

"...those were private, and they're only meant for those who _stood around to listen after the story has ended_."

"Yes, yes, now can you NOT inhale me in? I ain't gonna give you some circus power or something."

"Meh. Alright, so; your plan?"

Marx told Kirby his crucial plan.

"We use your magic sock to move you to Fabric Land, I don't know; and I bring the sock with me, hop on a star from your phone _thing_, and we're off."

"...You don't even know how to operate my 'phone', do you?"

"I'll figure it out; no worries!" Marx exclaimed in a cheery tone.

"So, where is it…?"

"My house, in the drawer. Right by a whopping big stalk."

Marx flashed a smirk. "Righto, and off I go!"

Kirby gave a small smile to the running Marx, who just happened to leave the door unlocked.

Well, manners as a hostage counts.

Kirby locked the door as the puffball left the cell.

…

In Popstar, following through Kirby's directions after a brief exchange with Hyness (it turned out that Hyness is _also_ sending Marx to infect more people).

Marx accomplished his 'mission' with Hyness, to which the crazy witch approved and stopped the clairvoyance spell used to watch Marx.

"I'll teleport now…"

"Wait, give me 10 minutes."

"You're will late, Mark!"

"Yeah, 10 minutes, for hell's sake!"

Hyness huffed before cutting off the message.

This was the opening he'll use. He only has _some_ time before Hyness gets impatient and spies on Marx again, so he needed to be quick.

"Right by the stalk…"

Marx turned to his right.

A giant stalk.

_Wow, he wasn't kidding. How did I miss something this big when I went into Dedede's castle…?_

Nevermind that time when he took Kirby; he just needed the sock and the puffball's 'phone'.

The window was wide open, and so Marx fit through. He jumped up to the window sill and walked in the unconventional way.

He sees Kirby's drawer, and opened it with a great big pull.

Among Kirby's belongings, was his phone and the magic sock (mind you, it looked _just_ like a sock).

Carrying these two items was when Marx was teleported back into the base.

"Took you so long, trickster. Me got bored." Hyness voiced displeasure at his late arrival.

"Yeah, sorry, I was watching the target a tad too long."

"Ok, permitted for time. Next clock and you'll go bye bye!"

"Right. Uh. I'm heading off…"

* * *

Sock and phone in tow, Marx headed for Kirby's cell.

He wasn't there.

There was some commotion someplace else…?

…

Kirby dodged a flamethrower from Flamberge, as the hot-headed girl hunted the pink ball down.

Kirby swung and swerved as a fireball himself, having taken one of the attacks, transforming himself into Fire Kirby.

Well, if he's going to escape anyway, he really shouldn't get too attached to his temporary home, huh?

Kirby breathed fire back at Flamberge, as a shout from Marx came to him.

"Kirby, if you hear this, meet me back at your cell…!"

Flamberge heard that, too. She turned back and headed straight for Marx and Kirby's cell.

A few moments later, Francisca wandered into the hallways of the base after her hunt for the power Hyness needed, questioning Zan Partizanne to whatever had happened.

…

Kirby arrived a moment after Flamberge, as a dodging Marx came crashing into the puffball, with the sock ready on use.

Marx and Kirby had to deal with an enraged Flamberge, however.

"I've always known you were a traitor to our cause, Marx."

"And I don't care for your cause, so you can go straight to hell."

Marx popped out his wings and a thousand lightning arrows pierced the sky.

He followed with a laser from his mouth.

Flamberge was surprised to see two consecutive, extremely fast attacks being thrown at her, as she tried to move before any of them hits.

Marx was tired now.

Naturally, not being supplied by power himself, he was pretty worn out from just _two _attacks.

However, it was two attacks which hit dead on.

Flamberge was ejected out of the base, unconscious on the planet's surface.

"Hahhh… that… went well…"

"Take it easy. Now… the sock, Marx?"

Marx handed the pink puffball his sock.

Kirby enlarged it, as if it was magic.

"So; I'm not losing this- It doesn't travel with me- you better carry it all the way back to Dreamland when I jump in. Escape with the phone, pretty simple. Good luck, I suppose… That should be it. No more questions, right?" Kirby laid it out one final time.

Marx responded with a clear yes, and Kirby hopped into the sock.

"Weird," he commented at the sight of Kirby falling in… and disappearing completely.

Marx picked back up the now shrunken sock, and tried to operate the phone in order to bring him out of the place.

He pulled out the device. There was a button on the face of the thing, so Marx pressed it.

As he clicked the button, a mechanism flung out, extending a hidden antenna with a spinning, glowing star, nearly hitting Marx square in the face as he was intently staring at the device. It began to make a sound...

_RING. RING. RING…_

The notes echo far and wide…

And a star came down to help him. He saw the blinding flash from the stardust, now he'll just have to see if it'll pass through the barrier the base is covered in.

Marx could not believe his eyes when the star had come for him.

Like a shuriken, it broke through. Pierced the barrier like it was glass, as shards of the magic fell to the ground.

As it arrived to the hole in the wall Flamberge went through, Marx went for it.

He staggered to the star and climbed on Kirby's signature ride, and took off to Dreamland, grinning widely as he escaped the hellhole he was forced into, uncooperative with their ranks and uninterested in world domination. He had changed for the better, and he wasn't going to waste his chance again.

* * *

Kirby was in a strange world.

However, it is not a strange world to him.

Well… he might be the only person here who's not made up of yarn, but he went through it before.

Kirby was on the top of a castle, one which he recognised quite quickly.

He scaled down the fluffy steps, and landed on the courtyard.

Well, while he was here, might as well check on an old friend…

Kirby burst into the throne room of the palace, as the ruler of the castle gaped at the sight of the uninvited visitor.

"Kirby…? Been quite some time since we talked, huh? Come, let's have a chat," the blue round yarn creature invited.

"Sure, _Prince_."

Kirby had some fun times with this guy.

"Actually, it's King now. But just call me Fluff, we don't have to be so regal at all times…"

…

Prince- no, _King_ Fluff sat down on the soft chair as Kirby sat down as well.

"So, you're King now?"

"Yup. The whole kingdom thought that me tagging around and helping you is a pretty good qualifier for king, so that's that."

Fluff whispered to Kirby.

"Mind you, my workload somehow _doubled_ now. One of the things I really don't like," he leaned back and continued, "...other than that, the planet's been quite peaceful since you left."

"Huh. Well, sorry for not visiting you the past couple years. Had some trouble back home, too. Like right now…"

Kirby went deep into his thoughts.

The yarn king frowned, and asked, "What sort of trouble, Kirby?"

"A crazy… cult, I think? They're hunting me down, so with the help of a fellow friend, I escaped to Patch Land."

Fluff gave a 'huh' as he once again leaned back.

"Well, as long as _that_ sock isn't gone, then you'll be pretty safe here. I assume you left it with your friend?"

"Yup. Speaking of which, his name is Marx…"

* * *

Marx, having never flown on a star before, screaming his lungs out at the insane speed the thing was taking. He was passing stars by a lightyear and a half, and he was definitely dizzy from the exhaustion and what happened today.

Well, because the barrier was broken, and that was the only thing tying him to the base, he was able to make a clean escape.

He'll just have to make due with a speeding star and his ability to not throw up the instant he rode it.

The star flew across space, as the transport took him all the way to Dreamland.

"I'm gonna _craaaaash_!"

He was heading to the surface of the star planet at light speed, and his courage trembled.

The ride abruptly halted. Marx nearly got flung out due to the inertia he carried during the trip.

"Aha… that's it! That's it! Dreamla-"

His joys were cut short.

The star began falling to the surface, and the screaming returned.

It shot into the atmosphere like a shooting star across the night sky of Dreamland, as the residents of Dreamland enjoyed the lone comet.

...except Marx.

The star crash-landed onto the cold, cold, mountain range he once knew. There was a volcano in the distance, which was also familiar.

The jester crawled to the smoking star, before it shot up to the sky, awaiting another's call.

"I'm back! Hahh…."

He collapsed on the snow.

* * *

"...So, he seemed like quite an unreliable guy, huh?"

Kirby stopped for a minute.

"No, actually. I find him to be somewhat reliable, minding that his whole plan hinged on me trusting him. Normally, I would've trusted a guy like him instantly, but…"

"Ah. His sudden betrayal."

Fluff stood up from his comfy chair.

"Well it is an interesting situation you have. I wish you the best of luck, Kirby. Next time, come by again, will ya?"

Kirby shook the yarn boy's hand.

"Sure!" He smiled, as he left the room and waved at Patch Land's king.

Kirby climbed back on top of the castle, ready for arrival back in Dreamland.

"Right… he should have arrived at this time. At least, I hope so…"

Kirby jumped in the magic sock.

A whirr of colors, and Kirby arrived on snow, cold as an ice cube, next to a collapsed Marx, with the other half of the sock as well as his phone right beside the jester.

Looking at his surroundings, Kirby voiced his great displeasure.

"Not in the middle of nowhere... _again_..."

Kirby sighed.

"I'm just going to hope that this planet even _is _Dreamland."

Kirby took another look at his surroundings.

A volcano started erupting.

"Ah, nevermind. I am in Dreamland."

…

_How the hell am I going to get back to the mainland?_

* * *

The shooting star lasted quite some time, as Taranza viewed the burning spectacle.

He had nagged to Magolor about the once-in-a-lifetime event, but Magolor instead deepened himself in his reading and forced Taranza out.

_Bad, bad Magolor. Such a workaholic, amirite, soul?_

_Ah, yes. The egg. Well, he is a workaholic, I suppose. Just doesn't know the value of fun._

The two laugh together, despite one of them being inside Taranza.

…

Magolor wondered at his plan. Go to the mountain (and one volcano) to retrieve the last remaining energy spheres.

Seemed simple enough.

Magolor launched his ship onward. They had enough of a beach. It was time to change their course.

Off to the mountains the Lor went, nearly at its top speed.

* * *

"So, Kirb's gone…?"

Francisca was heartbroken. The pink ball had told her so many wonderful stories, and she wanted to hear more!

She was sad to hear that Kirby and Marx fled the planet.

"Yes. Yes, they did," Partizanne confirmed, showing a beaten up Flamberge.

Francisca turned to her sister.

"I'm chasing after them. Kirb and Marx!"

* * *

AN:

Okay, wow.

I was too into reading fanfiction that this chapter got delayed. Whoops.

Anyways, that's finished, and we're off to the mountains to gather the last remaining energy spheres. Francisca is coming, and who knows where Kirby and Marx ended up.

Also, Prince Fluff made an appearance. I wasn't going to originally put him in, but I just had to.

smallroo: Yeah, that Super Kirby Clash cameo was pretty nice. Originally I was going to put the DX version in, but after I found out about the game, I just have to put it in there. All in all, a pretty nice omake.


	17. Chapter 13 - Traversing Troubles

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 13 - Traversing Troubles**

* * *

"I thought I had enough of this when we went to the colosseum…"

Taranza was currently complaining about the cold and all the snow, accompanied by Kine.

"Yeah, I know right? It's like, the worst weather ever."

"Say, it's not that bad," Rick commented.

"You _breathe_ fire out of your mouth, Rick. Of course you would say that this weather is just fine," Coo rebutted, with a monotone expression, looking at the hamster with a questioning look.

"Well— actually, I don't have anything to say about that…"

Rick shut up.

The view from the Lor was astounding, even at the heights they were at.

Rick, Kine, and Coo had simply come to enjoy the breeze, to which they find a complaining Taranza out in the open, carrying a blanket and his robe tightly around himself.

That said, all four of them were on deck, as they watched the frigid mountain coalesce into white triangles. Well, the environment was that, just like a blank white canvas. A blank white canvas with a giant red dot on it, screaming the tastes of modern art.

For some reason, a _volcano_ laid in the center of all these other mountains. It was singled out (notably, no other mountain is touching it) and it kept on bursting lava all over the place, a billion degrees hot, and a thing nobody will want to touch.

Of course, that being said…

"I still can't believe Magolor asked us to _dive _into a _volcano_ to get his energy spheres. Like, come on…"

Taranza nagged on and on about this and that, with the animal trio providing the occasional input.

But hey ho, their main point of interest is the volcano, not the cold weather, so after some moments of Taranza pouring his hate for the cold, he retreated back to his room, shaking and covered in blankets.

The animal trio simply looked on.

"Pretty sight, ain't it?"

Coo rolled her eyes. "We've been here lots of times, Rick."

"I know, I know," he chuckled, "it's just that it's the first time I've seen it from the air."

"Grow a pair of wings, then," Kine suggested jokingly.

The three exchanged their quips, and laughed it off as the cold, cold air blew on their faces.

Laughter rang out, as they eventually also went back in the ship.

Magolor greeted them, as always. He was too polite not to.

"Hey. How's the breeze?" He smiled.

"Oh, pretty good. Too bad Taranza chickened out though, said he was bad with this kind of weather. Complaining a heck lot at the deck, he was, yeah…" Rick laughed at the poor spider who was not there.

Kine chuckled, before actually offering a report.

"Say, the weather out there is getting heavier. Loads more snow coming in, so will that impact your ship?"

Less of a report and more of a question.

Magolor responded all the same.

"Probably, yeah… I'll just activate the ship's barrier and see if that'll block the snow away."

Coo cawed. "This type of weather is bogus, you know. Not a great environment to fly in at all…"

She waved at her wings at that statement.

"Yup, that'll be a detriment to your fine ship, Magolor. Unless you already have the defenses for the cold weather?"

Magolor popped up his screen and showed the barrier he was going to turn on when the snow gets heavy.

"See here? I can just activate this, as I've said. No problems whatsoever," the magician spoke.

"Leave it to me. For now, just enjoy your time in the ship before I park the thing on a volcano."

Kine nodded, as he waved towards his friends, going to their shared room.

…

Magolor knew he was talking bull, when he mentioned the barrier. He had absolutely no idea if the snow will go through the thing or not.

Well, experimenting with it might help.

* * *

Marx woke up from his deep slumber. He knew he had passed out some time after the terrible, terrible hell of a flight, and looking at his surroundings, he viewed the area around him.

White snow.

Pink shoes.

Kirby must've been there.

His eyes were still half-closed, and his body did not allow him to move. The events beforehand had taken quite a toll on him, even if he slept through most of it.

"What a hassle…"

Kirby grabbed Marx and started to drag him to who knows where.

Marx, low on energy, went back to sleep.

…

Kirby had had enough trouble.

He really hadn't thought this through.

All his stories were just for the sake of stalling with Francisca, even him he did enjoy the moments where the ice mage wondered in awe at his tribulations.

After he escaped, he had zero clue on what to do next.

Well, he supposed that his first priority is shelter…

Which is why he's currently aimlessly dragging Marx by his foot all over the place in order to find a cave, an igloo, just something for them to stay at.

The day had turned to night, as his stomach growled, and he was getting tired fast.

With no house— no shelter in sight, he had to—

Wait. Giving up is not his M.O. He'll see through it all the way.

And so Kirby trudged through the deep snow, searching for a place he could call home for a while before they move again.

…

The night kept on going.

It felt like it never ended.

Kirby was tired, tired, tired.

On the verge of gaining hypothermia, he had kept hugging Marx for warmth. However, Marx, who is also losing body heat, is definitely in bad shape.

His skin looked just a touch off-colour, the beginnings of hypothermia catching up to the jester.

He needed shelter, and he needed it quick.

"A final mountain. Cone on…"

Over and beyond the icy mountain was a community, houses made in igloo.

Situated in a much flatter land compared to the mountains, it was the perfect stop. Just a trip down the mountain he was on and he'll get to the shelter.

Kirby smiled, even laughed at that.

Luck had really gifted him a wonderful gift.

"Finally."

Kirby trudged through the last steps and climbed down the mountain.

His body now really really shivering, he knocked on the first door he saw and asked the occupants of the house to lend him and Marx shelter for the night.

Lucky them, they were allowed to.

The lone Waddle Dee, the owner of the house, had let them in the property.

They were saved, as Kirby laid himself by the fireplace present in the igloo, along with Marx at his side.

When he asked why _the fireplace won't melt the house_, Waddle Dee responded, "We keep the heat inside by lining the inside of the fireplace with a heatproof substance, so that heat will not easily travel through the snow on the walls of this igloo.

Kirby murmured a thank you, twice for the Dee's help, as he slowly drifted to sleep by the fireplace.

The Dee had nice manners, and Kirby was darn sure he'll have to repay the guy back tomorrow.

* * *

The day returned, and the time for awakening resulted in the early birds experiencing the still frigid cold air.

Marx slept in and found himself in 'the less frigid, cold air'.

Well, he really had stood awake and spent his energy on firing that large attack, so it was normal for him to sleep this long, recharging his 'energy' and by extension, his powerful attacks.

He woke up in the middle of the day, where the air is still cold.

"Mmh."

Waddle Dee took notice of the stirring Marx.

"Ehey, whoa there. Take it easy."

"Mpgh? Wha- uh, sorry? I didn't, uh, catch that."

The dee panicked for a bit, before resuming his last sentence.

"Take it easy. You and your friend, from what I've been told, have been through a lot."

"A lot is an _understatement…_"

The toll caused by firing that extremely effective attack was still lingering around, and it did not help that Marx woke up sore, thirsty, and confused.

That morning was a slow morning, or rather, noon.

It took Marx until evening to get himself back to a reasonable state.

Even then, he still had aches everywhere, mainly his mouth.

He was told to lay down on the bed the Dee provided him, until further recovery.

Acknowledging the situation, Marx did not complain and laid on the soft surface and drifted to sleep.

…

The Waddle Dee shook the sweat off his forehead. Today was certainly a mystery to him.

It was a day, normal like any other; until two weary strangers came to his doorstep.

Of course, he accepted their pleas.

That turned out to be quite a good choice, even though his food stock would diminish quicker.

And to hear his son doing oh so well at the palace…

He was surely a very happy father at that moment, hearing the news of the 'friend' the pink ball described him as.

Among other friends the stranger talked about, that one stuck out to him.

It was hard to not notice your own son in a story like that.

So, he had to accommodate his son's friends.

Not that bad of a situation.

* * *

Kirby entered the cabin he now called his temporary home.

The Waddle Dee in the house was so warm and friendly, quirky in a way, so much so it reminded the puffball of Bandana Waddle Dee, in personality.

Kirby mentioned it to the Dee yesterday, and for a second a great smile crept up on his face.

Kirby paid it no heed, thinking it was a quirk someone does once in a while.

Right now though, he had to tend to the jester who was currently useless on a bed.

They needed to travel again the next few days, and the air seemed too cold.

So, their destination will be the volcano nearby.

He had heard somewhere that hot springs are present near volcanoes, and that they'll have 'healing' properties.

He didn't know who spread that rumour, but it was worth checking out.

Plus, he could use some relaxation after being in another planet for quite some time.

_That settles it, then. Maybe I could bake a cake too while we wait…_

Cake was always nice. Fills you up emotionally and physically.

Just what Kirby needed.

"Sugar…" Kirby imagined, eyes sparkling at the thought.

He really needed to bake that cake.

"Eh…? Sugar?" the Waddle Dee looked on, confused.

"Oh! Er, do you have some sugar? I would like to bake a cake."

The Waddle Dee thought for a minute.

"Sure! The pantry is over there," he pointed out, "so get your stuff and bake, I suppose…"

Kirby smiled.

"Oh, thank you."

* * *

…

"I'm heading off."

Francisca was determined.

She _will_ find Kirby.

Flamberge saw her off, as the ice mage boarded the teleport pad.

"Well, uh. Good luck, Fran. Catch both those bastards for me, yeah?"

"...bad word," she mumbled. A nod came. "Of course!"

Well, she had her own plans. Mainly finding Kirby and asking her to be a friend.

_Say, why did Flamberge call them 'bastards'?_ _They didn't do anything _too _bad._

_All they did was break free_.

_Because we kept them in here_.

_Locked them in here._

The Francisca in the past was ignorant and naive.

Now, she had the knowledge gained from watching the antics ensuing in the facility as well as her sisters' and Hyness's obsession over that _heart_.

The dark heart. Jamba's Heart. A being so powerful that even she herself is scared.

_So, why does it need to be reborn? Why must Hyness act so foolish, unlike that kind woman I saw then?_

These questions rang across Francisca's head. She needed answers.

And one who could give her answers was Kirby. Marx, too.

They both know more of the outside world.

And it seemed like such a magical place, compared to the boring old base.

Francisca was determined. Her solo mission will hopefully rid herself of her own doubts.

First, though, a wave of goodbye is in order.

She started sniffling. She didn't know why.

Flamberge saw her cry.

"Miss me already? Heh. Don't worry about it! It'll be over quick and fast."

_Flamberge reassured me. That was… nice of her._

_Maybe it's just Hyness who's gone evil._

Flamberge gave a hug to Francisca. Pulled away, and off the ice mage goes to Dreamland.

…

I need to find _her._

…

A wisp of air breathed onto me.

I watched as my surroundings slowly melted, turning from the teleport pad into the cold, snowy place I'm on now.

It was a mountain.

A real, real big mountain!

Wow, so _this_ is Dreamland?

So beautiful!

Ah... I need to take a breath.

There was a volcano in the distance. That was odd. It didn't fit with this beauty of a scene.

"Is this the work of an evil being?" I asked myself.

Kirb's stories always had one evil guy sticking out, poking 'round and causing chaos.

Is this one of those times where Dreamland is in trouble?

...Well, now I gotta go help, right?

Isn't that the right thing to do?

So, while I search for Kirb and Mr. Marx, I suppose I can make it my secondary goal to destroy the evil thing who made the volcano.

Surely this planet'll be too large for me to find them right now!

I'll need to ask first… ask people… and _then_ I can find 'em!

So, that's my goal then.

I imagined myself, what Kirby would do, based on her high tales about her numerous battles.

Well then… time to _adventure_!

I hopped off the peak of the snowy mountain, sliding down the steep hill.

"Ahahaha! This is fun!"

The cold really suited me!

I stopped myself partway through.

"Hmm. If I make an ice board?"

My intention was to ride it down.

I think I'll be faster that way. So I made it and jumped off with it.

True to my expectation, it did go faster.

I laughed and screamed in joy the whole ride.

* * *

Baking a cake is a tedious task. Especially with minimal ingredients.

_Seriously, what kind of pantry is this!?_

The most Kirby could make was three muffins and a dollop of cream, with a strawberry on top.

Wasn't a full cake, but it didn't stop the puffball from getting discouraged at eating it.

_I hadn't had cake in so long…!_

Kirby cherished the sweet taste in his mouth, the strawberry rolling off into the never ending abyss, loving the taste all the way through.

It was too quick, too brutal when Kirby finished his small cake.

He really wanted more. On the other hand, shouldn't he give one to Waddle Dee?

So in the end, that's what the kind fellow did.

Kirby gave the old dee his cake, and left a plate of cake for Marx when he wakes up.

Sharing is caring, after all.

The old dee loved it to bits.

"Ah, reminds me when my wife was still around…"

_Looks like he's happy. Good for him!_

Cake makes the world go round, after all.

High levels of sugar, and high levels of taste.

Can't go wrong with cake.

Kirby eventually asked the dee how it tasted.

"Oh, marvelous, young man! You do indeed bake very well!"

A compliment well-deserved. Kirby celebrated with a pose.

"I still make good cakes after all! I thought getting stuck made me rusty… especially when I just learned how to make such great cakes."

A door swung open. Kirby turned in response to the sound.

In front of the door was Marx, bringing out an empty plate half-asleep.

"Well, he's back."

"I'm, uhzh, hah?"

"Go back to sleep."

Two consecutive sentences and Marx was sent back asleep.

He wasn't getting out of bed so easy.

* * *

I smelled the scent of cake.

By then, I had been quite awake, and not quite _that_ exhausted anymore.

Too bad that was my _body,_ not my mind.

Someone left me cake here. That was nice of them.

I downed the sweet treat before hobbling by, plate in hand to the door.

Out the door I went.

Kirby was talking to the old dee. Nice of him to do that. Er, her?

Kirby's gender was always a confusing topic for me.

Nevertheless, I grunted and said something stupid before getting sent back in the room, door shut.

Seriously, can they see that I'm quite fine? Well, not in the mind, but still!

I mean, I _see_ why breaks are important, but ain't this bullshit hindering our progress?

I thought we had to rush to the next part of our plan as quickly as possible.

Say, what was the objective again…?

…

Ah, right. The volcano.

At least, that's what I think we're going to.

Overheard Kirby saying it.

...they might've been right to send me back asleep, considering we're going to a _volcano_.

Well, time to sleep again.

Laying down my hat beside me, I began to fall asleep.

Let's hope that there won't be as many hell-inducing moments later on, both literally and figuratively.

Y'know, being near lava and all.

It _is_ going to be extra hot in there, so, I mean...

…

Time passed. I woke up again.

Didn't sleep too well. Hey, at least I'm recovering.

Kirby's been toiling and turning all the gears in the background while I rest; good for us, I suppose.

He's planned it out.

"Ah, yeah, thanks again for letting us in your house."

The pink puffball was always polite to strangers even to me… taking on, er, my fake request back then.

I swear, I don't do those kinds of things anymore!

"No problem, no problem. It was fun having you both in here, even if one of you spent it sleeping. You'll always be welcome back at my house. Please contact Bandana for me, will you?"

Wait. He was _that_ waddle dee's dad? Huh.

"Yeah, of course. Alright then; we head off now. Thanks again!"

We began walking down the snowy path, the cold

unwavering.

"YUP! COME BACK AGAIN SOMETIME! GOOD LUCK!" the old man shouted.

Hmm. Nice of him to wish us good luck.

Kinda made me want to know more about him. Too bad we won't come back here in awhile.

Because we're diving into a _volcano._

Packed with minimal supplies and a good amount of courage, we journeyed on foot to the volcano.

Seriously, it took so long that we chatted on the way. Me and Kirby.

Honestly, it wasn't so weird now, considering we talked a lot back in the Jamba Base.

Still awkward though. I _really_ didn't grasp the conversation well.

Is this what would've happened had I not used Kirby to gain power?

...hm.

Peculiar.

* * *

The two fugitives walked their way to the volcano base under a night and a half, camping by a fire and talking on whatever topic there was.

It had become a wearisome journey, and Marx really wanted to let it all out in this volcano.

"Ayup, here we are. Now, hot springs… where are ya?"

Kirby flopped around and searched for the 'hot springs' he apparently knew that was located by a volcano.

Then again, it was a hunch. Kirby didn't really have that much to go out of, especially regarding hot springs.

Luck was on our side, however.

There was a landslide- yes, this is lucky.

Well, that landslide ended up pushing some snow away, revealing a good spot for the 'hot spring'.

It was… disappointing, to say the least. It's just a small cavity with hot water, enough to fit both Marx and Kirby inside.

Come on Mother Nature, can't you help me out a bit?

I just want a relaxing time enjoying the heat, not a boiling pot one hundred inches wide!

...sigh.

I really can't complain. In the end, it _was_ our goal…

They both jumped in.

Kirby was enjoying it. A lot, by the looks of his expressions.

Maybe I'll stop complaining and enjoy it myself.

"Aah… what a wonderful hot spring," the puffball exclaimed.

"Too small though," I criticized.

"You gotta take what you can get…"

"...Yeah, maybe you're right…"

The two enjoyed the heat for some time.

Compared to the cold, the heat of the water felt magical; refreshing, even.

The calm winds of the mountain, with the heat from the pool made for a perfect combo.

Well, the calm was destroyed by some whirring sound up in the air.

Marx didn't notice it at first, but as the sound got louder and louder, he couldn't help himself and looked up.

A shadow beamed onto him, as the Lor Starcutter soared through the sky.

"What the…" Marx was gawking.

"Hm? Oh…." Kirby looked up, too. Seemed like he knew what that thing is.

"Weh? Er, what exactly is that ship, Kirby?"

"It's Magolor's ship… the, uh, Cor Starstriker. I think."

"Magolor? Your friend?"

Kirby went silent for a while.

"...yeah. He's sorta egg-shaped, wearing a blue outfit with a scarf…"

"Hold on, I think I've met him before."

"At the castle, right? When you took me?"

All the way back then, huh?

Marx contemplated the guy he met back then. He was… a mixed bag.

Had some courage, yet was a cowardly dumbo, too.

_Wait, from his perspective, ain't I…_

"...We should not meet this guy."

Kirby stood up. "Wait, why?"

"Er, hello? I'm the guy who took you from them?"

"Oh. No worries, Marx, I'm sure I can explain it all to them."

Marx smirked. "You better. I'm not getting pummeled by an _egg_, alright?"

"An egg? That's new…" Kirby mumbled, before returning at full volume.

"Of course!"

…

"So, we're chasing them and meeting up with this guy?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Marx nodded. "Okay, okay… just, lemme enjoy my well-deserved hot spring for a minute, kay?"

* * *

The ship was sailing, wind blowing like mad against the starship.

Inside, was a trio of friends, one sleeping spider, and one workaholic alien.

Magolor launched the ship at the volcano, arriving on top of it just shy from the lip of the opening.

Docking the ship, he began to gather his passengers on deck.

"And now, we welcome you to a great view of Dreamland's Volcano."

Magolor pointed towards the inside of the fiery death pit.

"Mate, you sure this is safe?" Taranza queried, worried.

"Definitely!" he confirmed with a smile on his face.

Rick was already loving the heat, evident in his facial expression.

His other two partners however, didn't seem to enjoy as much.

"You know, maybe we shouldn't have agreed to come help this wizard gather his things."

Coo nodded. "Well, what's done is done, and we can't change it no more, Kine. Plus, we did owe them… sort off."

"Ah, yeah. _Sort off_. Maybe I'll just crack some jokes and we'll be dandy."

Coo chuckled. "Ah, friend, don't worry. I'm sure Rick will handle most of it. He _is_ the pyromaniac, after all."

…

Seconds passed, then minutes.

Magolor had prepared food and water, as well as basic supplies that most people usually need.

"Alright! We begin our trek in order to find my Energy Sphere! Off we go!"

Magolor stumbled for a moment, and returned to traversing the rocky outskirts of the volcano lip.

Taranza was following him, taking less risks than usual.

Behind them, was the animal trio, all together with Rick leading them.

They began their journey into the fiery hole.

At the base of the volcano were two stalkers.

Kirby who jumped here and there like it was any other day, with Marx, who took an easier route by simply flying up.

His… wings, however did not last quite as long as he predicted, and thus he had to climb like any ol' land creature would.

In turn, Kirby began to float up, too, before being buffeted by winds and scared to death at the prospect of falling.

Thus, he, too, was stuck climbing the 'normal' way.

Behind them all, was a water witch, travelling to the volcano, ready to enact her plan to 'save the world, just like Kirby'.

* * *

AN:

You would not believe how many delays it took to finish this. Exams were a main cause of this. Well, this is why I have an inconsistent upload schedule… The accursed number 13 strikes again.

See, I was _supposed _to post this on November, but then exams came and I had to focus on that. After that, I suppose I just kept putting it off in favor of gaming or reading fanfiction myself.

So, uh, anyways, yeah. This chapter's about how our characters try and go to a volcano. Magolor and Taranza is searching for fuel along with the animal trio, and then they were spotted by hot-spring-goers Kirby and Marx who followed them, and then we have Francisca who misinterpreted what a 'threat to the world' actually is. Because, you know, her only source of outside contact is Marx and Kirby.

Other than that, I'll try to get Chapter 14 out faster.


	18. Chapter 14 - Rolling Rocks

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 14 - Rolling Rocks**

* * *

Magolor descended into the open maw of the volcano. He really _was_ questioning the dangers of _going inside a volcano_, but that wasn't going to stop him.

_Hey, you sure you're gonna live? The volcano might blow up…_

_Soul, that is a one in a million chance, now way it'll blow up. I've seen how it operates; it's dormant._

_Ahah. Dormant? Well, an explosion might just set things going…_

His soul ranted on, and Magolor tuned him out.

"Oi, you _still_ sure this is safe!?" Taranza spat, shivering in fear.

"I'm pretty sure rational people aren't supposed to _willingly lower themselves in a volcano!_"

Magolor rolled his eyes. "The damn thing is dormant, okay!? Plus, I _need_ that energy sphere, so chop chop!"

"Someone's in a foul mood today…" the arachnid mumbled.

_We really shouldn't judge people like this. Plus, I'm sure he's been getting a lot colder recently. Taranza, dear, just don't copy him, okay? I've noticed you're getting testy, too…_

_Well, uh, I'm sorry?_

_Good enough, Taranza._

"Yo, dudes! This heat is rockin'!"

Rick was fantastical, looking none the worse for wear.

"Sorry, my brother gets like this when he encounters exciting things…" Kine apologized on behalf of his 'brother'.

Nobody responded to his apology.

The team kept on descending until they hit the warm ground, with pools of lava begging to be stepped on.

"Alright, everyone, we need to exert, uh, caution, so just stay far far away from the lava pits and we should be fine," Magolor warned them.

"Isn't that common logic, though? Ya' know, _not_ step on a pit of lava?" Taranza reasoned.

"Warnings work best if reminded of. Now then, let's split up until we find my pesky sphere…"

* * *

Kirby and Marx braved the cold air, until they felt the wash of warm air coming from the top of the volcano.

"Looks like we're getting closer."

"No shit we're getting closer. Look at how far the ground is."

"Marx, your language, please!"

The two paced their steps accordingly. Buffeted by the terrain, they had to slow down.

"Oi, this is taking so long, and my foot's hurting..."

"Marx, suck it up once in a while, okay?" Kirby stated, starting to get annoyed at Marx's whining.

"...what's that about language, again?"

"For goodness sake...!"

The two climbed further and further.

Marx, who was done talking, started thinking. His line of events was quite blurry, what's with sleeping at that old man's house for who knows how many days.

Speaking of that, maybe he should ask his soul. It started getting active, but then it died down again.

_Say, soul, what's your thoughts on what happened the last few days?_

There was silence in his mind.

Nobody answered.

_Uh, hello?_

No soul. What happened…?

His mind went straight to the clock piece in his bedroom.

_On his bedroom._

He buried his face into his hat, as Kirby slowly turned around, watching Marx head first into his hat on the ground.

"...what?"

Marx groaned. He was gonna have to get it, won't he?

"I have to go back to the Jamba Base. I _might've forgot_ something…"

"Oh boy. Alright… I trust you can go there alone?"

"Give me a few hours and I'll manage."

Kirby offered him his services.

"I'll call you a star, and it will stay with you until you come back."

Marx _was_ going to have to ride the speeding star again.

"I hate this, but I have no choice, huh?"

"Why did you even forget _something_ in the first place?"

"We were in a rush, dammit!"

A star swooshed by. Marx jumped on it.

"Alright, see ya lateeeeeeaaaaaa-"

Marx was cut off by the fast paced star.

Kirby was now alone.

"Okay… break time for me. Where's the nearest shelter…?"

...

Hyness propped up to give insight to the remaining mage sisters.

"So, as you so oh know, the _trickster_ lay upon us the worst case scenario."

Flamberge smacked her hand.

"Well yes! Now, can I go burn him with my flamethrower!?"

Hyness held a hand against that statement.

"You shall naught! Only _me_ can go hurt-y that man."

"...old lady, you're not making sense again. I know you do this for theatrics!"

"Well, _Parmesan_, I am one but the most intelli-"

A rip tore across the base, the barrier broken once again.

"He's here! Sister, ready your torch!"

"Oh, I'm going to give four degree burns, alright!"

The star crashed into the base, with its passenger slightly harmed by the debris coming from the crash and slight confusion from knocking into the barrier. It was luck that even made him stay on the star _without arms._ He just ducked and prayed to Nova that he won't be ejected out to space in transit.

"Oof, owie…"

Marx gathered his courage and burst into his room, taking his piece of clockwork from Nova.

"Got it! Now I-"

His door slammed open and a bright orange light came in, heat on high as Flamberge cornered Marx in his own room.

Marx… decided that he wasn't going to fire his laser _again_. He just recovered from it, and he wasn't ready to knock himself out again.

So, he opted for the acrobatics.

Marx procured a ball, and flung the object onto the wall.

"Ha! You missed…!"

It bounced off the wall and hit Flamberge. It wasn't strong at all and was simply a distraction. Marx tried to dash out.

"Wait- hey!"

Ignoring the bar of flame right above him as he sped out the door, clockwork in his mouth, he swept beside Partizanne and hopped on Kirby's star.

"Bye bye, cheese lady!"

Partizanne said nothing and hailed lightning after him.

Marx, panicking on that sight, decided that _now_ would be a good time to bail out.

"Star, go!"

It didn't move.

Marx was fried by the electricity.

"Hah! That'll teach you," Partizanne scoffed at the jester.

"Owie! Why, your attacks are strong… but I must flee now, so uh, keep 'em for next time, alright?"

Mumbling under his breath, Marx panicked even more. "Come on, come on, fly already…!"

He smacked the star. It flew, and with its passenger unprepared for the sudden takeoff, he was nearly flung out of the star before managing to duck his head and stay in that position until landing back on Dreamland.

The sister were left with two holes on the wall, a shattered barrier, and a scorched room.

Hyness came up to them.

"WHAT YOU PEOPLE MAKING!? DIMWITS!"

Hyness berated them, crazily swinging at them.

"I swear, these days, I can't take a good break…"

…

Kirby sat by a fire in a cave as he waited out the undying cold that was nighttime in the mountains.

It was nearly as bad as Freeze Star, but he managed.

Chattering to himself about his plans was somewhat of a good idea.

Being halted like this wasn't usually part of the plan.

A familiar sound came.

"Ah, he's back."

A bright, shining star came, ejecting Marx into the mountainside.

He face-planted right to the side of the volcano, before managing to open his wings and fly in the cold, before finding Kirby waving at him and the pink ball's fire.

Once inside, Marx sat on the ground, dropping his precious clockwork beside him, before letting out his thoughts.

"Kirby?"

Marx gathered his breath, before bellowing out, "YOUR RIDE _SUCKS_!"

Kirby looked flustered, and responded to the critique.

"I mean, it's my ride, I'm used to it…"

"I'm _not_! It's a death trap, I tell you!"

"...It's one of the speedier ones. Relax, please."

Marx silenced himself.

"Oh, fine. Got the thing I was looking for, by the way."

Kirby looked over it.

"A clock… gear?"

"It came with me when I left Nova," he explained.

"Oh. _Oh._" Kirby didn't say anything anymore.

The two sat in silence as the night continued. Soon, they slept, saving energy for another day of climbing.

...something moved. Another Kirby watched them as they slept. As the night progressed, it began flooding the cave with paint.

Paint dripped everywhere. Everywhere and everywhere and everywhere. The environment was a different mess when the duo would wake up.

And a snicker from the painter topped her new piece, "Prisoner".

* * *

Night had already rolled around, and the ship crew was tired. They rested back in the ship. They had not made any progress at all. No sphere was found, and _some _people were too squeamish about the heat and the danger.

They weren't about to give up though, and continued their activity the next day.

Lowering down into the volcano once again, this time they expanded the territory of their search, into the caves of the volcano, at least the ones that are visible and _not covered in lava._

"OI! Guys, I might've found something…"

Taranza waved out, calling for his fellow searchers.

"So you see, this isn't the sphere…"

Magolor raised his eye. "I can tell. The sphere is buried deep in the volcano. This is why I suggested we search the caves today, because you see…"

"I kinda forgot to check _where_ it was yesterday…"

Magolor returned to a sheepish demeanor, fumbling over his words again.

"So, uh, anyways, er, continue?"

Taranza sighed. "We got something much bigger."

Taranza led the crew to the peculiar cave he went into.

Inside was some grand white structure, made from marble, with weird statues half-broken from age.

Despite being made from marble, parts of it were burnt, blackened by charcoal and ash.

"Whoa…" Kine took in the sight.

They went in.

Inside, was a strange sight, indeed.

Nothing was there. It was completely blank. Nothing at all. They advanced to the next room.

A single table made from obsidian lay on the floor, half-chipped and on it lay a tablet.

They approached this table without hesitation.

Magolor took one look at it.

The rest of the team followed suit.

"This… this is Halcandran."

"What?"

"Halcandran, the writing is _Halcandran._ Why is this here…?"

Taranza stared at Magolor. "If you recognise the writing, mind reading it out loud…?"

Magolor held the tablet, and began to read.

"We arrived on the planet of the star, through the use of the Lor Wayfarer.

In it, we found a strange substance. Soul.

It was in its residents.

In theory, it was the culmination of the person's 'other half', if you will. The one who desires.

This… interests us. So, we…"

Magolor was silenced.

Taranza looked at him weirdly. "Uh, continue?"

"We, _uh, hold on…_ we performed multiple experiments on it.

In short, it was a success. We split a single person into three, resulting into three beings.

Now, the body, the mind, and the soul run amok. The heart, split between all three, a thought perused… by one of our older experiments.

The mind had calculated thoughts. Shown empathy.

The body was foolhardy and short-tempered. Shown empathy.

The soul was pure and naive, its desires always surfacing. Desire to know, desire to play, desire to do anything… and shown empathy.

We took the soul and observed her quite nicely.

The other two didn't like that.

Whenever we separated these beings, they go aggressive.

They gathered weapons and attacked us.

We were able to cull this ability by removing all primitive and modern weapons from the facility."

Taranza wondered. "...That's it?" he asked.

Magolor flipped the tablet over. There was hasty scribbling on the back of it, made using some sort of media. He read it.

"As I'm writing this, the building is under attack.

A crazy witch blew our operations open.

She brought the three out of the facility.

However, we managed to leave a dent in her.

We cursed her soul, with what magic we knew. Removed her mind piece by piece. Smashed her heart to pieces. All taking time, a ticking time bomb; before sooner or later, she'll go crazy...

And then _they_ obliterated us. A being without these essential ingredients is no being at all. Simply machines.

I am the last remaining Halcandran scientist on Popstar.

I am going to go back to Halcandra. Alone.

On the Lor Wayfarer. I pray for safety."

Magolor returned the tablet into its original spot. He looked around. There was a large hangar area.

He went there.

A single button was left. He pressed it. The side of the volcano opened up, leading to a great exit out of the cave.

Taranza stumbled with him to the hangar. "Well, I think our writer didn't make it out. All of 'em."

The ship was in shambles, its mast lopsided and its hull wide open, creaking as the wind blew on it.

The animal trio had their mouths agape, unable to say anything after the tablet.

_Ka-clink! Ka-clink! Ping!_

CLANG!

Like an organ crashing down, something rumbled the entire volcano.

"What was that?"

They rushed out, not having a good feeling.

…

The Lor Starcutter was frozen solid, falling on the opening of the volcano.

"Okay…"

Kine voiced his concerns. "Uh, I don't think we're alone here."

Someone circled around the ship.

_They_ noticed the crew in the volcano.

"Oh, so _you're _Magolor? You're the one causing this mayhem, sir?" Her voice sounded like a young, female child.

"ER, NO!?" came Magolor's shout.

"Mhmm… but you broke the universe that _one_ time! Kirb told me! And now you're back! So, imma' give you a beating, alright…"

Her eyes glanced over the crew. Standing in front of a particular cave she recognised, white marble barely sticking out.

"...wait. This environment. _That cave…"_

The attacker stood in silence before questioning the crew. "Why are you in there. Nobody is supposed to be left in there. Unless… you're cooperating with _those_ meanies!"

She prepared her attack, the environment losing heat as the energy turned to absolute zero.

Magolor switched to his soul form.

"Oh no you don't! Taranza!"

Taranza followed suit.

"Hell no! Not cool, man!"

They started their fight against the mysterious attacker.

* * *

Kirby and Marx woke up to a weird sight.

They were stuck in a strange contraption, with a blade strung by a rope, with themselves locked in place by two pieces of wood, and a basket below them.

"See? Ehehe, this is my new masterpiece!"

A figure came from behind them.

"It's interactive! Ahaha!"

All around them was a painted sight of Waddle Dees, booing them. Behind the crowd was buildings that Kirby hadn't seen before. Marx didn't even know what was going on.

"Oh dear me, seems like you don't know what's happening. It's my piece, 'Prisoner'. You're the prisoners, and I'm the executioner!"

Marx had had enough. "Who are you!?" he exclaimed loudly.

The crowd stopped booing.

"Me? Why, I am the best painter around, you filthy peasant. I am Adeleine, of course."

"Adeleine!?" Kirby shouted himself, in confusion.

"**Puhuhu**. Yes, **Adeleine**, Lil' Kirbs. Oh, how your sweet face will be mine forever, like a piece of art…!"

Marx was sick of this. "Okay, that's it."

He fired a seed.

Adeleine, curious, inspected it.

"Oho, **what** must this be? You're **disgusting**, you know-"

A full-sized plant grew immediately, sending Adeleine up to the roof of the cave.

"WhY yOu!"

She painted a bow and arrow and shot the rope dangling the blades over Marx's head with her newly crafted weapon.

"Oh no, **whaTeVer** wiLl i Do?"

Marx was unamused. He teleported out. He was done with the farce.

He shot his own arrows, but not at Adeleine. He aimed it as the restraints covering Kirby.

"Ah, thanks!" Kirby dusted himself before standing against the painter."

"Ohoho. nO eScApe."

Adeleine shot out a pitch black goo from her paintbrush. It painted the ground, before coming alive as a blob of black. It started chasing the duo.

Kirby inhaled it and shot it back at Adeleine.

"No thank you, have the attack yourself, alright?"

Adeleine made herself a racket and started their match of paint pingpong.

Marx took the time to fire arrows at Adeleine and distract her from dodging.

Kirby reflected the black paint back, and it hit Adeleine. She cried in pain… before smirking under all the dark goo.

She gathered all the paint she had on her, and flung its entirety onto Marx, intending to take out what she thought was the stronger of the two.

She wasn't thinking right, literally and figuratively. The Jamba Heart affected her thought process.

Also, the funny thing is, is that _Kirby_ was the stronger one. That, and Marx had insane power himself. You know, giant lasers, raining arrows of lightning, all those wacky draining attacks.

Marx fired a laser through the whole thing, blasting the paint and the paint_er_ twenty inches in deep rock.

Kirby looked at him. "...That's overkill."

Adeleine coughed up a dark heart.

"Overkill or not, it got the job done."

Marx blasted the heart with another laser, destroying it.

"Ooh… I think I'm going back to sleep again…"

Marx collapsed, a repeat of last time.

Adeleine fell back to the cave floor, and the paint slowly chipped away, going into the painter's paintbrush.

"This day is not getting any less confusing."

"And it will get evEn moRe _**cOnFuSINg**_."

Kirby whipped his line of sight to see… another Adeleine…?

The beaten Adeleine and the 'heart' melted into black goop.

"**sAy, iT waS nICe of yOU tO wAsTe aLl yOur aTtacKs oN thaT sUbStiTute.**"

Kirby readied his stance. Another battle.

"**mY TuRN.**"

The paintbrush came out full swing, and with a small whip, Adeleine swung the tool, covering the cave once more in paint.

* * *

Marx whipped his head up as he awoke groggily. His head was pounding. _Hard_.

All around him was nothingness. Simply black, the space extending to who knows how long. A figure approached him.

_Himself._

"Say, you've been outcasting me for so long? Why…?"

Marx did not answer.

"I just wanted to feel the power. To feel _good_. To feel like on top of the world. But you repressed me. You rejected _me _after Kirby beat us. _Why?_"

Silence.

"I tried to help you. Gave you advice, even more _now_ than in the past! And you're ignoring me?"

Marx stared at his soul.

"I was done with everything. I didn't care anymore. My life is worth _more _than power. I _value_ my continued existence rather than my own desires. Needs over desires, _soul_," Marx finally spat out, as if it had been on the tip of his tongue for years.

"Needs over desires," he breathed out.

…

Cold wind punched him in the face. That, and paint.

He looked up from the ground to see Kirby being Kirby, always on a fight.

Well, he _was_ dead tired. He really can't help without overexerting himself.

Marx laid there on the ground, unmoving as he thought about that conversation.

His recent years had been dark. Figuratively, and literally.

Afloat in space. Beaten, with no one in sight, no one in mind.

His last piece of the wish-granting star was the small piece of clockwork he had.

Helped by a cult who needed him to do bad deeds. He had grown out of it. _He was done._

That resulted in him forcefully putting in alien hearts into powerful inhabitants. And taking Kirby with him.

Kirby…

The puffball was too gullible, sometimes. He hoped that Kirby would learn from his mistakes after the pink ball felled him, and he did. Kirby learned.

He kept on chasing after his dreams.

While Marx… took the short route.

Heard of Nova, and came butting in last minute to make sure he himself got the power.

Himself.

…

Kirby always extended his help to others. Marx did not. This is why he was always felt alone.

He had no friends to back him up.

He wanted to learn from his mistakes, but…

Somehow, he felt that it was too late to do these types of things. You break one's heart, and it'll never piece back.

You ruined them for life.

You scarred them, took advantage of others.

Took power.

Power power power power _power power power power-_

Marx shook his head. He shook it furiously, like a man gone mad. He split in two.

* * *

Kirby kept on his battle, eyes on the ready and mouth open wide for the rebound. It became like another tennis match, the Adeleine bouncing her attack to Kirby and himself bouncing it back until eventually, it hit…

He'd try to outplay the artist, but it seemed like she only wanted one attack to be focused upon, and so they went at it, throwing attacks to and fro with alacrity and precision.

Dodging some paint spikes, Kirby swerved and blasted the rebound onto a piece of rock above Adeleine. The blast knocked some of the cave off, and so a rain of rocks fell upon Adeleine.

She patched it up with some paints and went back at it.

"Ah, I need to take care of the paintbrush first!" Kirby realised, cursing himself for not aiming for the weapon of attack first.

It wasn't usually a target of choice Kirby would aim for. Usually he'd pummel the enemy and that's that.

This time, it'll be a tough fight…

"!"

The wind was sucked from him as Marx opened a black hole from inside of him, sucking everything.

_Everything. He wasn't holding back._

Kirby held on to the walls of the cave as he saw Adeleine, unprepared, get sucked into the black hole.

Another Adeleine popped up from the wall opposite to Kirby.

"Damn! I thoUght I hAd it!" she cursed, as her duplicate dissipated into nothingness.

The black hole sucked even more, and Kirby found himself holding on to the stable handholds the rock formed into and he held for dear life.

Adeleine did the same, actually fearing for the hole now.

It was a battle of who would last.

And so the two hung on the walls as Marx kept his black hole up, unaware of the world. The jester began to fill the air with his screams.

It was unpleasant, ringing with discordant notes and unpaced shrieks.

The black hole grew even stronger.

Adeleine was up to her fingers.

Kirby was, too.

…

Adeleine involuntarily let go, shrieking herself as she was sucked into the black hole.

The shrieks joined for a second, before leaving Marx alone in his screams.

The black hole did not stop.

"You've done it! Can you stop now!" the puffball shouted. It fell on deaf ears.

"Stop! _Stop! STOP!"_

Kirby couldn't hold on any longer. He let go, falling into the black abyss.

* * *

Lava was frozen as blasts of ice and water flew across the mouth of the volcano.

Taranza fired another ball of light before backing out slightly.

He headed to the animal trio, who were currently taking refuge in a small cavity.

"Oi, you hear me?"

"Yes, Marx?" Coo answered.

"Look, we're not hitting her. Can you- I don't know- help, or something? It _would_ be appreciated…"

Rick instantly stepped out.

"Ah, my fire is strong enough not to be doused. Let us fight this unruly woman!"

The hamster charged out. Kine followed, mumbling a quick "He's like this, sorry…" to Taranza.

Coo shrugged and flew to them, beginning to form blasts of wind, aiming for the assailant.

All this happened when a blast suddenly blew their eardrums.

"Holy shit, the noise! There's an explosion?" Taranza spoke.

"WHAT!?" Rick shouted. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!?"

"Hh. THERE'S AN EXPLOSION SOMEWHERE; I DON'T KNOW WHERE!"

"WHAT!?"

"Oh forget this, I'm not dealing with this right now."

Taranza turned his head back on the girl.

She flew out the volcano.

…

She seemed… worried.

...worried?

Why was she worried? Did something go unplanned?

Oh wait, she's leaving?

Magolor held off his attack and he flew down to Taranza.

"Something's wrong. She kept on babbling on how the danger was elsewhere."

Taranza formed a face. "What?"

"Ske kept on babbling on h-"

"Okay, stop. I have no idea what you're saying, but our enemy is talking to herself."

Magolor tried his best to palm his own face.

The girl suddenly flew down to them.

The two readied their attacks.

"I want to talk to both of you," she requested.

Taranza stumbled mid-attack, firing his into the lip of the volcano.

Magolor stopped his.

"I can't hear you. You know, explosion and all."

Francesca questioned Magolor. "What? Sorry, I can't really hear y-"

"No more! Stop talking! We'll handle this _after_ our eardrums aren't ringing anymore!" Taranza fumbled out.

* * *

_**Adeleine, Acrylic Illusionist**_

_A girl affected by the __**powers of the Jamba Heart**__. She uses her __**trusty brush**_ _to paint, wherever she goes. With the Jamba Heart, her already strikingly real paintings become so __**real**__, they merge into the real world as permanent beings with __**minds of their own**__, albeit primitive._

* * *

AN:

Hmm. This took longer to write. I suppose I am slowing down, yes, but hey, it arrived. A number of days out of schedule. Well, I don't really have a schedule. I mostly just write whenever I feel like it.

Sometimes I want to do this or that, and other times it may come down to a single idea or writer's block.

I somehow made Adeleine look like a crazed woman from the French Revolution. Whoops.

All part of the experience, I'd say. Oh, by the way, merry christmas and happy holidays.

Guest (WHAT THE BIMPS): Yes, they'll all be together, like a happy family! Also, merry christmas to you.


	19. Omake - Another Adventure

**Star's Allies**

**Omake - Another Adventure**

**New Year's Special**

* * *

**WARNING: THIS IS NOT CANON. REALLY, IT'S NOT. ALSO, HAPPY NEW YEAR.**

"We are _going._ _NOW._"

The crew scrambled on their feet back to the Lor Starcutter.

Kine stumbled a bit, but he eventually made it.

Up into the control room, Magolor fired up the engine and the ship blasted through with a crack in the sky, leaving the planet.

They were going to cross the dimensions, once again.

"Hey hey, this time we'll _make_ it back home, right?" Taranza asked, tired.

"Of course we will!" Magolor reassured.

Magolor dove under a giant dimension and flew into another.

"Strap your buckles, we're entering the dimension!"

"Mate, your ship doesn't even _have_ buck-"

Taranza was cut off, flung across the room as the ship dove into the dimension Magolor targeted on.

…

The ship zoomed into the starry portal the Lor created. Taranza stood up, rubbing his head after the nasty drag from the jolt.

They drove into the night sky of their unknown destination, glistening and shining to all who see it.

Magolor slowed the ship down, landing his craft gently.

The ground was covered in snow, and snow it was for miles and miles around. Magolor exited his ship to the deck, shivering slightly as he felt cold air hitting his face.

It was a cold, dead world. There was _nothing_.

Nothing at all.

* * *

Another trip.

Another try.

His passengers were getting tired. Either tired or cranky. He was sick of it. It had been five or so days of him just jumping into dimensions, trying to find _their _world.

_Oh well. Here we go again._

Magolor landed the ship with difficulty. There was no flat ground. He eventually decided to keep it floating up in the sky.

This world was monotone in color, as accents of gray color the world around them.

A lot of things were floating. Rocks were floating. Some leaves were floating. Nothing fell according to gravity.

It's as if… time stopped.

Beyond the darkness surrounding the Lor, Magolor eyed a sky high metallic blue tower, broken into pieces, hanging in the air unaffected by gravity like all other floating objects.

A monstrous created roared at him, its eyes flashing a deep red with orange arrows around its body.

Magolor turned tail and fled.

…

Out of the dimension, he launched the ship again.

Taranza eventually stopped coming to see the worlds they visited.

They all wanted to get home.

To do that…

* * *

Magolor wasn't sure if his plan would work. Sure, his ship was basically a highly intelligent computer, but putting an algorithm to launch them into worlds back-to-back…

_It might be endless._

Magolor paid the thought no heed as he launched the code, taking the ship across dimensions, moving at a pace which Magolor would consider 'good enough'.

It'd fly into a world, land on the surface, wait a couple minutes and fly off into another.

If there was no place to land, it'll move on. _And _he could take control manually if things looked… off.

_The wait is going to kill us in the end._

_Isn't time always the barrier to most of our endeavors?_

_Sure is. Sure is…_

The mage launched the code and off the ship goes into a dimension he did not know.

He was going to have loads of fun…

His first glance into this new dimension was technology.

There were shiny lights, tall buildings, and an organised city plan.

The Lor, seeing no place to land, sped off immediately.

His plan really was working…!

It'd take them time now to find their home.

Ah, the joys of travelling. Waiting in boredom or fleeing in a frenzy.

Speaking of which… it takes him back to when he thought travelling wouldn't be _so_ bad.

…

Magolor rushed out of the fiery, charred dome the Halcandrians used as their main hangar. With him, a star-shaped key in tow. The master key, which can start ignition in any ship.

People were already crowding over the mishap. He'd need to do this quick...

...lest his thievery gets noticed.

Magolor, wearing a ragged old coat, sneaked around the patrols the guards were doing, and off he went trying to find a ship in the runway.

He didn't find a ship in the hangar, funnily enough. It was all so troubling, so hard to break in that he nearly flipped out at naught a sight of a ship.

"Alright… where in the world is that ship," he mumbled to himself.

Magolor was getting impatient now. Searching runways should be easy! His increased his pace and moved with a slight tap on his foot as he slowly jogged.

The sound was immediately noticeable.

A guard turned to Magolor, a distance away.

"Hey, you! Give me your authorization or I will ask you to kindly turn yourself in. This is a restricted area!" shouted one guard who happened to notice Magolor.

_Shit._

Magolor sped off, running as the guard radioed the rest of the security crew. Within minutes, he would have a swarm of officers attempting to apprehend him. That wouldn't be good.

Magolor broke into cold sweat as more and more guards came down his path. He dodged some trying to cut him off, as some guards pull out their weapons and tried to shoot at the fleeing egg.

In retaliation, Magolor shot back a ball of shadow, exploding and hindering the guards. With the small frame of weakness, Magolor dashed, swearing under his breath.

His eyes darted around, trying to find a ship somewhere, _anywhere_-

_Aha._

A blue ship, accented by small bits of gold and white was visible on a runway some miles away.

He'd just need to run there.

The guards were back at it, as Magolor laughed in short breaths as he held the key in his hands.

Multiple ships began to surround him, flashing bright lights at the young wizard as they circled around the thief.

Magolor rushed to the entrance of the ship and shut the door immediately.

He heard banging as soon as he locked the door.

"Open up!" commanded one guard.

"Get the door buster!" asked another to her friend.

Magolor chuckled and hopped to the command room.

He happened to notice the ship was snazzy and oh so fancy. Makes it even more worth it.

He inserted the key into a keyhole, igniting the engine as he took off, controlling the ship wildly.

Magolor soon got the hang of it though, feeling a rush of adrenaline and the ships that were circling him are now chasing after him, weapons drawn out.

Turns out, he's a natural born pilot. He stuttered on the controls at the beginning, but soon got the hang of it as he pulled loops, swerves, and close calls, all in an effort to flee the scene and take off into space.

A sudden noise, however, shook him with fear.

"Mates, this guy- blue, Halcandrian- stole the ancient ship!"

"Oh, I can't believe it. After all the upgrades, too?"

"Shit, get the colonel on the system!"

A speaker was playing all this for him.

The ship slowed down their chase as Magolor ascended into orbit and out.

He sighed in relief as he escaped what would've been his capture.

Magolor sped off with his brand new ship.

…

Just like now. Off on another adventure.

This time… to what he would now call home.

Not Halcandra. Never again.

* * *

Taranza laid there sleeping, head in the clouds above.

His soul watched on, looking at the spider.

It was boring. Small talk was made.

_How was the trip? You pressed the button. And now you ended up in this mess._

_I know, I know. Screw off, please._

Needless to say, it did not help. Taranza's Soul stood silent after Taranza waved them off just like that.

Sectonia never gave him this much trouble.

Well, less trouble than now…

The worst she's done was trying to take the world for herself. Much like _that_ horrific world…

Where the king died. And Kirby's nowhere to stop it.

What would other, ruined worlds look like…?

Would it be ruined to all hell?

Like the voided world, nothing of note; actually, nothing at all?

Or like the world Sectonia envisioned, which the old him supported gleefully?

Taranza sighed.

The _universe_, he supposed, wasn't like he suspected.

Say, is it universe? Magolor used the term 'dimension'.

"Ahh. This isn't my league…"

He'll leave the brainy stuff to Magolor.

Taranza sighed yet again.

Nothing's been happening for the past day-

The ship shook. Wildly, as if thrown about in circles and out of its cruise.

When this happens, he sure knew what to expect.

_Trouble. _Again.

* * *

"Act two will air _someday_ in the future! For now, the show has ended! Hang in anticipation as the crew stumbles upon a flower-ridden Dreamland!"

**"HAPPY HALLOWEEN!"**

A crash rang through the sky, as the inhabitants currently watching turned their eyes to the great starship, avoiding a cloaked creature, with none but one hit on its hull.

A star shaped portal opened, and they were gone, along with the monster.

The actors watched in shock, even Magolor, as he watched his ship fly and disappear.

"Say, that wasn't part of the show, right?" Kirby inquired.

The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves.

The director, who was nearby, up on the back of the stage, watched the whole ordeal.

"Huh."

Marx, now on the actual stage after lowering himself from the tower of Squeaks, watched on, too.

Everyone was in awe of what miracle just flew in the sky.

…

"Dodge!"

"I _know_! Don't rush me, please!"

Taranza was in the control room. You know, for _support._

_Despite not helping at all._

Magolor took control, spinning the ship this way and that way, trying to dodge the bullets from this mysterious creature.

It was cloaked, hostile, and out for blood.

His… her..? Its attacks kept hitting, slowly but surely.

They weren't going to escape this one unscathed.

The damage was going to get major soon.

He needed to protect his ship.

"...I'm gonna go out there."

Taranza blankly stared at Magolor. Finally, he gave his response. "Excuse me, you're gonna do what?"

"I'm going to go out there, and no one's stopping that plan."

"Mate, your ship's going to be in ruins if you go out there. Let _me_, instead. You're the only pilot we have."

Magolor held back his protest when he processed it in his head.

His idea seemed stupid now.

"Okay, fine… get out there and give 'em a good beating, alright?"

"You know it!" Taranza exclaimed, confident.

The arachnid stepped out the door out to the deck.

Dimensions passed around him as the ship passed through portal to portal. In front of him, though, was one peculiar man.

Taranza came face-to-face with a humanoid looking creature wearing a cloak and very, very tall in height.

"Who are you?"

The creature did not respond immediately. Taranza charged.

Within seconds, he spoke out a sentence.

"**I am Nightmare.**"

A shining light came. Nightmare laughed crazily, as the light died down, Taranza was bewildered at his attack, canceled.

"**Now now, that would be quite rude, wouldn't it?**"

Taranza started to back off. He needed to activate his soul form. Unnerved, the spider-turned-moth shot a ray of light as the man.

This one passed through him, leaving a small hole where the light once passed.

"**Hmm. Maybe I should stop joking now.**"

Nightmare raised his arm, his hand forming into a crooked form.

He sliced at Taranza. Taranza put up a quick dodge.

"**I need something from you all.**"

He sliced again. Taranza parried his attack, and shot another beam of light. It pierced his skin…?

"**I need the **_**children**_**.**"

Nightmare did not falter, as the man now started to fire three blasts of spherical bombs.

"**From the clutches of Termina. I need them. I need their **_**power. **_**Their combined power… ascends even the Star Rod."**

"Mate, you're off your rockers!" Taranza cried out, as he started to get a lot more aggressive with his attacks.

Magolor came onto the deck.

Taranza turned to him.

"I thought you were _controlling_ the ship!?"

"We're home. We made it back."

He didn't even notice. He looked around to see Dreamland… well, the normal Dreamland.

"Oh." Focus lost, he turned to the beanstalk before getting slashed at by Nightmare.

They had forgotten he was there. The moth cried in pain, flying off the ship.

Magolor had set the autopilot on, circling the air of _their _Dreamland.

And one pest remains from their travels.

Really, Taranza _definitely_ needed help.

This guy was tough. Looked tough, feels tough, from all the pressure he's feeling.

Magolor charged, his soul form out and about with dark spheres up and out, and aimed for Nightmare.

A black screen rolled.

* * *

"I swea' ta gawd, these films are darned; too short! HAL just tryin' to get moah revenue, at this point."

The triple 'D' complained, carrying a nearly empty bag of popcorn in his hands. Beside him, is Bandana Waddle Dee, taking his spear from the security box nearby.

"Yeah. The film sucked so bad that it may as well not release at all! It kept on derailing the story, I don't know _what's_ even going anymore," Bandana agreed, spear with him as they left the theatre.

"And maybe because _your _studio collaborated with this film, sire…" Bandana mumbled.

"Wha' was that?"

"Oh, nothing."

"So… which moveh we're going ta nex'?"

Bandana thought for a moment, as he tapped the butt of his spear onto the ground.

"Hmm. Maybe 'Return to Dreamland'? The film has the same actors, but it's one of their well-received movies."

"Aghh, nowadays, movehs are too complicat'd…. alrighty then, we're gonna watch that next time."

Bandana looked up to Dedede, before pointing out the positives.

"Hey, at least it's they're changing for the better. These small parts kinda made it look like an episodic thing, ya' know? A better change for the new year."

"Ah, yeah. A film series, like 'Galaxy Battles' or something like tha', righ'? I can dig tha'."

"Hey hey, I'll invite you to my house way up on the mountains. We'll watch some good films for the christmas and new years' cheer," Bandana offered.

Dedede contemplated for a second, before accepting it. "Sure, what ya' got in mind?"

The two talked some more before parting off.

* * *

AN:

Hey hey, Happy New Year. Here's a small short in omake-land, with dimensions, dimensions, and dimensions.

This is where a play might be real in another, _or_ it may just be a movie.

Then again, I'm just having fun with this one, haha.

Guest (WHAT THE BIMPS): Yeah, the schedule's pretty much me procrastinating my ass off until the chapter is finished and proof-read (I do still miss _some_ mistakes, hehe). Also, Happy New Year to ya'.


	20. Chapter 15 - Valiant Voice

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 15 - Valiant Voice**

* * *

After their eardrums returned to, uh, _normal_, Francesca held her hands, crossed as Magolor and Taranza, still an abomination and a moth, talked it out.

Well, it was less of a talk and more of an argument…

"Why the hell did you attack us!?" Taranza quipped, wings flapping ferociously.

"I thought you guys were bad guys?" Francisca unsurely quivered.

"Calling us _bad guys_ might be a little late…" Magolor commented.

"Eh?" Francisca looked surprised. "I thought… that you all were doing some evil things! Especially in _this place_…"

"Uh, I might've helped plant a giant stalk on Dreamland and kidnap a king, but that's all I did...?"

"_Well, maybe I also helped Secty kill herself…"_ Taranza murmured, nearly silent as his face darkened.

Francisca cocked her head at Taranza, before looking at Magolor instead.

Magolor turned his eyes away, with a sombre face.

He quickly turned his eyes back at the ice mage. "We weren't doing anything _off_ here. I was just collecting a certain fuel type for my magic ship."

"Say, how'd _you_ know what we did? I certainly never told what happened _back then_ to other people…"

Francisca's face lightened up. "Oh, Kirb told me about it! She's really nice!"

Taranza formed a funny face. "O-oh. 'Kirb' told you of us, huh?"

"Yes! You know Kirb?"

"Well, uh, after our, er, _stunts_…" Magolor mumbled.

Taranza continued. "We kinda became friends, in a sort of way. I lived in Dreamland for some time after the Dreamstalk and..." Taranza looks away.

Francisca did not compute that signal, but she continued anyway. "I like Kirb! She's been telling me these stories! A giant machine, a world made of yarn; it all sounds like a giant adventure!"

"Ah. I see," Coo spat out out of nowhere.

Magolor jumped.

The animal trio had been staring at the battle for some time.

"You're someone Kirby is acquainted to, yes?"

Francisca tilted her head. "Well, her name is _Kirb_… Miss Hyness told me so! But yes, I'm friends with Kirb!"

Coo breathed out a sigh. "Hmmm. Kirby does have a good choice in friends… as evidenced by us three."

"And not me?" Taranza held his hand to his chest, mock-insulted by the comment.

Rick cut in. "Hey hey, you're the guys who battled with Kirby before; I'm sure the puffball trusts us more!" He was smiling.

Magolor chuckled, before asking Francisca.

"What's your name?"

"Ooh. My name? It's Francisca, of the Three Mage-Sisters~"

Magolor offered a hand, despite still being in 'nightmare fuel' form. "Ah.. I'm Magolor. Pleased to meet you. If Kirby told you of _me_…"

"I know! You tricked her to help you conquer the crown, right?"

Magolor had an uncomfortable face as she mentioned the mishap.

"Ah, uh, er….." Magolor fumbled over his words.

Francisca, oblivious, simply accepted his hand and shook it vigorously. "Anyways, pleased to meet ya', Mister Magolor!"

Francisca turned to the moth that is Taranza.

"And you, mister…?"

"Taranza. The spider, if Kirby told you such."

Francisca's eyes lit up again. "Ooh! Kirb told me you were really cool for helping her back with King Dedede...dede?"

"I'm… cool…?" Taranza queried, not believing what she said. "Ha! I'm cool!"

Magolor's face became even more downcast.

"So, uh, anyways…" Kine started.

"...what are we doing now?"

Things went silent for a while.

Magolor, hearing this, gained his professionalism back. "We're done here, actually. We're going back to the ship."

Francisca raised an eye to this.

Coo cawed. "Finally! I don't have to stand this volcano anymore!" Coo flapped her wings and took off.

Rick noticed this and grabbed her tail, giving her an unexpected squawk and held Kine close as the three flew into the air.

This left the three down below with an awkward scene.

"So. I'm heading back. Want to come with us?" Magolor offered to the ice mage.

She gave it some time, thinking, before she made her choice.

"Sure!" she smiled, as she flew upwards.

Magolor followed her, as they chatted.

Taranza is now left alone in the volcano crater.

"Bah." The moth flew up, chasing the two.

* * *

Kirby was thrown around in the endless void of black as the puffball looked around.

The panic had already set in.

"Uh… Marx? Let me out already?"

Nobody answered.

Kirby spent who knows how long floating in the empty space.

Things started getting boring.

"Augh! I can't stand the silence anymore!" Kirby flipped, and blew out some air.

It propelled the pink ball some distance. Kirby noticed this.

"Hmm… I see..!"

The next few minutes were spent trying to navigate the empty abyss that was Marx's void.

Most of the environment was just empty space.

However, Kirby soon encounters a gear. A rusted, old, gear.

Kirby puffed to the cylindrical object, holding it the soon the puffball's hands were on it, clutching it. Kirby looked around. Seemed like things might've not been so empty after all.

Kirby kept travelling. The longer time passed, the more broken machinery lay strewn across the space. It all looked like a junkyard soon enough, with black liquid and weird tables floating, gears aimlessly floating here and there.

The longer Kirby went, the more it became harder and harder to travel through. Gears _actually_ started to become a nuisance, as the junk pile kept on getting closer and bigger.

A staggering amount of time later, Kirby bumped to a massive machine.

It was some sort of machine planet.

Kirby recognised this being immediately.

_Nova_.

It looked dead. Feels dead.

No whirrs or clanks came from the celestial being.

Kirby backed up slightly, astonished at the wishgranter.

"Mnghh…."

_Behind you._

Kirby whirled behind as Adeleine came to, head groggy and mind not so clear.

"Wh-what…? What happened…?"

Adeleine seemed so out of it.

Kirby tried to comfort the confused painter.

"Adeleine…! You're back?"

"I am..? What…?" Adeleine mumbled.

Slowly, Adeleine coughed. It slowly turned into a fit of hacking, as the painter threw up a small, dark heart.

Kirby widened his eyes at the heart. It was pulsating, beating so slow…

Kirby grabbed a nearby gear and hurled it at the heart.

It cracked, as the pieces of the heart smashed into pieces the more Kirby threw gears at it.

Eventually, it was reduced to dust.

Kirbu huffed, sending him off slightly, but course-correcting seemed pointless as of now.

Now…

Kirby turned his attention to the whacking great planet in front of them.

A brush seemed to be painting it. It was nearly done.

As the brush completed repainting Nova, it returned to Adeleine, who started to notice the hellhole they were in.

"Hey, uh, Kirby? Where… are we?"

"Somewhere… I'm not sure…"

Nova opened its eyes. A loud 'meow' sounded, ringing their ears with the delighted machine's will.

system rebooting

...

rebooted

log notes saved

hello user_ kirby

what can i do for you today

"Hello… Nova. Where are we?"

hello

we are at x=0 y=0 z=0

That was not helpful.

Adeleine now looked in fear of the machine, wondering if they'll actually make it home from this black space.

Kirby sighed. "Okay… what do you last remember, then?"

viewing log notes…

log notes received

last user_ marx wished for life

last_wish granted

_heart__transfer protocol initiated

"What?"

Kirby does not understand any of this.

Suddenly, without warning, Nova cleanly split in two.

Within all the layers, lays Marx, in the core of the being.

Kirby started to puff to him.

...before getting held back by Adeleine.

"Wait, stop. Who is he? Where are we? How'd we get here…?"

_Oh. I forgot Adeleine was still here._

"He's Marx, my acquaintance… as of now. You kinda attacked us."

"I did what!?" Adeleine flipped out, gripping her brush tightly.

"Well, uh, that heart _sorta_ did things to you…"

Adeleine held her hand up to her head.

"Augh… I can't imagine what horrible things I did…"

While Adeleine was wallowing, Kirby puffed himself to Marx.

Adeleine noticed this and tried to follow the puffball.

She… was moving. In a very slow pace.

Kirby got closer and closer to Marx, floating in his own abyss.

As puffball got closer and closer, Marx opened his eyes.

"_**Who are you**__?_"

Kirby stumbled and tumbled to Marx, hitting him.

This did not faze him.

"_**I'm Marx. But I'm not.**_"

Kirby stared at him as best as he could before flipping over again.

"_**I'm the **__**heart**__**.**_"

A giant vortex formed in Marx, as the demon split in two, creating a whirlpool as Kirby was sucked in.

Adeleine, who was further out, screamt as she went in the hole.

It all closed once the two were in.

"_**We have a lot to talk about, Marx. About you. About what you've done. About what you'll do.**_"

"..._**What did the last wish mean to you?**_"

_...It saved me._

A ghostly apparition of Marx formed in front of the Marx inside the Nova.

_It was everything to me. I'm grateful. Really, I am._

"_**You took the second chance. What will you do with it?**_"

_Rebuild my life. Not make the same mistakes I made. __**Make friends.**_

"_**There you go. Good answer.**_"

* * *

Kirby and Adeleine were spat back out into the cave. Marx, who was split in two, slowly came together again. He looked worried.

"You were gone so long in there! Sorry I didn't find you longer…"

The two seemed unconscious, and Marx _just _seemed to notice that.

"Oh."

Marx looked around, before dragging the two to a crevice in the cave and slept on a flat rock, shivering in the cold…?

Marx was woken up a few minutes later when the whole volcano decidedly got a whole lot colder.

As he stepped outside the cave, he turned his head to the peak of the volcano to see a ship already off in the distance. The peak seemed frozen.

The ship seemed of interest.

However, he cannot waste anymore time, else they won't catch up.

_I need to follow that ship._

…

"Mmgh. Mrph. Mhwha…?" Kirby blinked.

The sky seemed so close. Was this another dream?

Kirby decided to look below.

They were tens of thousands of feet up.

"Wh-wha!?" Kirby stumbled, as he was gripped by _something_.

"Whehehey! Don't move! I can't correct for _your weight_ that quick, ya know!" Marx berated.

Kirby _then_ noticed that they were flying _on_ MMarx being held by the claws on his wings. His _purple wings._

"Why are we up _here_?" Kirby questioned.

"I'm following that _ship_ up there! Somewhere…"

A blink of an iconic blue starship was visible in the clouds.

Kirby managed to spot it. "Oh. _That ship._"

Kirby made a face and decided to look at the opposite side.

On the other wing was Adeleine, _also_ out. Not to mention...

"Marx, _that form_…"

"I know, I know, this body of mine has already taken a lotta beatings, and you prolly don't need to see this form _again._"

Marx was on his soul form, gripping the two as he flew on mach speed towards the ship in the distance.

"O-oh. I see…"

Kirby stayed silent after that, remembering _the last time_ Marx looked like this. It was hell.

…

Climbing into the ship (and reverting to their normal selves), the crew zoomed off with Magolor's expertise in flying the thing.

"Alrighty!" Taranza cheered, as Magolor flung the switch further. They were off to the castle, as a means of reunion before following their dark heart compass, off into space. Dedede's castle, to be precise.

They were _finally_ back on track. Finally off to save _Kirby_.

After _so_ many detours and _so _many fights, their mode of transport was on '100%', as Magolor stated it.

Taranza whipped his head to the animal trio. "So! We're kinda going to _space_! You guys want to follow?"

To his surprise, they all declined. "It's been fun, and I'd say we've had our share of adventure in a while," Coo cawed.

Kine raised a flipper. "You, uh, see, we kind of want to take it all in. Space sounds dangerous for me…"

Rick seemed ecstatic at the idea, before Coo backhanded the hamster. "Owie… but Coo, I want to ta' follow them…"

"And we're not going to, because we need some rest for a good, long while. After the heart nonsense."

"Agh. Fine…"

Taranza chuckled. "Well, where are ya' gonna drop off?"

Coo flapped her wings.

"The castle will do. After that, you're off to space?"

"Yes!" Taranza estaticly supplied, pointing up.

Magolor stepped in, his hands not on the wheel as he approached the four.

"Well, we're approaching the castle. Should be a feeew more minutes and we'll be there."

…

Marx kept on flying further. The ship seemed to slow down, as the tip of Castle Dedede showed up.

"Hey, we're getting close!" Marx mentioned.

Kirby looked to the ship. They were indeed getting closer, as Marx said.

"Huh. Nice. Can't wait to see Dedede again."

"The big ol' fat penguin?"

Kirby groaned. "Yes, _him_. Which penguin did you think it was?"

"I don't know, there could be some _other_ penguin in Dreamland. You don't know, I don't know, we all don't kno-"

"Mhwpha!?" Adeleine woke up. Fear took her quite quickly as she started to struggle, much to the dismay of Marx.

"Erm, uh, Miss Painter, please don't move so much — my grip on _you_ will break!"

Adeleine erratically moved around, not heeding Marx's plea.

Kirby tried to step in. "Adeleine! Calm down!" the puffball roared over the wind.

Her breathing slowly calmed down as reality caught up.

The erratic movements slowed as Marx weaved here and there, eliciting a few shrieks as he course-corrected the panic Adeleine had.

Marx sighed as he steadied back. He looked at his passengers.

"You all fine?" he asked.

Adeleine gave a thumbs up, despite _not_ looking fine.

Marx smiled. "Alright then! We're back, ba-"

The jester smashed his face onto the hull of the Lor Starcutter.

* * *

A bonk resounded as the Lor Starcutter came to a stop above Dedede's castle.

"What was that?"

"Sounded like a 'bonk'. Might've been stray creature, so no worries. I'm _sure_ they'll just have a _concussion_, and then fly back off into the distance," Magolor reassured.

"A concussion doesn't sound favourable," Coo off-handedly commented.

"Any type of bonk to the head isn't pleasant, silly!" Francisca responded, jolly at that.

…

Marx received the worst headache he's had in a long time. His altitude is dropping, his passengers are screaming— oh, it wasn't good at all.

His wings won't work anymore. He tried to pour some power into them, but it just _doesn't work_.

They were going to crash into Dedede's castle. _Again_.

Well, _again_, for him. Maybe Kirby, too. He had forgotten about _that_ break-in. He wondered if the hole was still there-

Adeleine's voice raised ten pitches higher as they approached the top of the castle.

_Well, I'll take the plunge._

_Marx, are you crazy? You'll get hurt!_

_Ah, I'll be fine._

Marx dove right through the roof.

…

Dedede had a fine, swell day.

His tea was properly brewed, thank goodness— he blew the brewing method last he tried it. He was the tester, _not_ the cook.

His crackers were well crispy and crunchy. The proper features of a cracker.

The king sat in his royal throne with this well concoction, relaxing the day off after he _took care of that mess_.

Susie was a real hard negotiator. Kept on and on trying to get the better end of the deal on their trades.

For the daughter of a businessman, _that _wasn't out of the question for her. The king sighed.

That was a whole heap of bullshit. _Another _was them trying to get Galacta Knight a room in the castle, much like Meta Knight, despite him often _not_ using it.

Seriously, when you offer someone a home, you can't just visit it _sometimes_ and leave a pile of garbage every trip.

In Meta's case, the room was filled with stocks of armour polish, cloth, and heaps of broken training dummies.

Those waddle dee dummies took a long time to make, only to be destroyed in seconds…

Well, at least they make good firewood.

Galacta, who turned out to have _similar _tendencies like Meta Knight, had his room essentially mirror Meta's.

King Dedede leaned his head back. He now at least had some good 'me' time, with no one to disturb him, as he specifically requested not to enter his quarters.

Peace and quiet. The greatest reward a king could have.

And that was when King Dedede was proven wrong.

"HELLO, BIIIIIT-"

There was now a Marx-shaped hole on both the roof _and_ the floor.

King Dedede sipped his tea in full, before smashing the cup against the carpet.

...

Marx smashed through five floors before landing his face on hard concrete.

He was definitely out for the count. There was a slight twitch on his foot as he laid there, face a few feet in the concrete, knocked out. His passengers, however…

"Aghhhhh…. my head…" Adeleine moaned, as she got up from the now limp Marx. She had somehow held her precious brush through this whole mess. This jester is definitely insane!

She stepped out of the… non-existent wings…? The wings weren't there anymore.

...Huh.

Adeleine gripped her brush as she looked around the place. Seemed like a deep, dark, and damp chamber. A torture prison, maybe? They were crashing into a _castle…_ who knows, maybe Dedede liked this stuff.

Adeleine gripped her head as the last few hours caught up to her. That… wasn't her best picture. A guillotine? She would _never _paint that. Too dark for _her_ tastes. What happened again..?

Her head hurt. Bad.

She tried to look for Kirby. Adeleine knew Kirby was there. So where was she?

A pink glint pushed itself up from near Marx. Kirby rose from the ground.

And then tripped and fell _on_ Marx, adding insult to injury to the cocky jester.

Adeleine helped Kirby up, offering a hand. Kirby, in turn, accepted her hand. _That_ was when King Dedede stormed in the basement.

* * *

A puff of smoke rose from the roof of Castle Dedede as Magolor veered his ship off to the courtyards, where he stopped the engine and opened the doors.

"Say, they've got some smoke billowing out the roof," Magolor noted.

Taranza smirked.

"Well, they might be hosting a backyard barbecue party_, I _don't know."

"A what now?" Francisca cocked her head, staring at Taranza.

"N-never mind. Haha…"

Rick, Kine, and Coo followed them, absent-mindedly chatting about various different things.

Magolor and Taranza approached the royal doors when Francisca decided to pull out a massive water gun. "Ahaha! Never used this one before!" she exclaimed, pointing the object at the doors."

Taranza stared at the thing, appraising it as Magolor commented about it. "H-hey.. I don't think that's a good idea. You gotta respect people's property."

"Bah. It's a door. Doors are meant to be broken. _Hyah!_" Francisca ignored Magolor's warning at blasted the water gun at the door, practically making it fly _into_ the castle's corridor at mach speed.

"_That's_ one way to enter a castle. Hm," Coo stated.

Taranza nodded in agreement, walking forwards nonchalantly.

"The door opened, _hey-"_ Taranza caught up.

And so, the first defenses of Castle Dedede was easily squashed under ten tonnes of pressure from Francisca's _broken_ water gun.

* * *

There was a _clang_ from the upper floors. Dedede couldn't ascertain what happened there, but right now his attention was taken up by the cheating, thieving, and lying bastard he saw in front of him.

"_Oi!_ Don't ya' dare moo' aroun'! You left Kirby for dea' _in space_ tha' time, _took_ Kirby alive to who knows whe' and _now_ ya' come back!?" Dedede readied his hammer for a good swing.

The jester won't know what'll hit him. Literally.

"Stop stop sto-" Kirby walked towards him.

"...Kirbeh?"

"Yes, it's me… hello again," Kirby sighed. Dedede went up to the puffball and straight up crushed Kirby in a hug. "I thou' ya' went off because of this fool right here," Dedede said, pointing to Marx all the while.

"Ah… yeah. He's with me. Adeleine, too."

"Adeleine? The paintah?" Dedede turned his head to said painter. "Ah. Hello again," he greeted with a smile.

Adeleine gripped her brush. "Yes, hello. Been a long time since I met you all last. Was just travelling and painting the scenery, as always. Say… I never finished _that_ commision…" Adeleine then went off into murmurs as she pulled out a half-finished easel of Rick, Kine, and Coo, and got back to work on it.

"...she's a painter. You know how she runs," Kirby mentioned. "Anyways, I'm back, yeah. Can you not smack Marx upside in the head right now? He's kinda the one who got us back…"

Dedede 'gently' dropped his hammer on the porcelain floor (and cracking it slightly, turns out Dedede does not know what 'gentle' is) as he approached the unconscious Marx, face half-buried in the floor.

"Soooooo… eh, how did y'all get back heah? I thought Marx for suah… ya know…"

Kirby scratched the back of his head. "Well… he sorta acted, or something… forced to work with some hotshot trying to take over the world. _Again_. My job _never ends…_"

Dedede offered a hand to the tired pink ball. "Relax for a few mo'. Ya' might need it. Guest rooms are on flo' five. _Or the basement_," Dedede whispered that last part. "Anyways, make yerself at home. Or, atleast as close ta home as ya can."

"We appreciate it," Kirby thanked the king, before picking up Marx by his leg and dragged the jester away. Kirby looked at Marx and blinked, before going back for his hat.

They both left, leaving a tired artist doing art in the basement and a king worried about the integrity of his castle. "Well, better get the cleaners down heah quick. Ya stayin' heah, Adeleine?"

The artist didn't bat an eye, too focused on the easel.

"...well then. I'll just go. Maybe they have some donuts left."

* * *

Magolor, Taranza, Francisca, and the animal trio all stepped in the lush and soft carpets of Castle Dedede. Francisca was definitely enjoying herself, rolling around in the red royal carpets.

Magolor's interest was piqued when he caught a glimpse of pink going up the stairs. "Is that Kirby?"

Taranza raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, you think so?"

"I do, in fact," he responded.

"_Kirby?_" Kine questioned. Magolor stared at him for a minute before noticing that they didn't know about Kirby's situation. "A-ah. Kirby was kidnapped. We've been searching all over for him. We're pretty sure he escaped, based on his past experiences involving… uh." Magolor cut himself off there.

Kine looked up to the stairs. "Well, are we going to go or not?"

Rick charged up the stairs. Kine widened his eyes, before shouting for the hamster. "Hey- Hold on! We haven't decided yet!"

Magolor and Taranza rushed after them. Coo was left standing there with Francisca, currently enjoying the floor. "Eh. Too much work. I'll just preen my feathers. Francisca dear, how are you enjoying the castle?"

"Fun!"

* * *

Rick jumped up ten steps as he charged forward.

"Slow down! Slow down dammit-" Kine stumbled, as he himself tripped on the stairs.

That, in turn, made him tumble downwards like a rock towards the two incoming magicians.

Magolor floated on top of the rolling fish, as it bowled down the steps. Seeing the incoming obstacle, Taranza shot out a string of web onto Kine, and pulled him as best as he could. He nearly fell off as well before righting himself and dragging the fish up the stairs with him.

The three chased after the hamster again as they climbed a good amount of stairs. Arriving on the fifth floor, they saw Rick standing there.

"Hey. You seen Kirby, anywhere?"

Rick stepped to the side. Kirby was there, slightly injured, tired, as he carried some… creature and a hat. The same hat which he recognised quite clearly. Back then… when Kirby was kidnapped. He ignored that for now. The guy was unconscious, and his eyes could not believe him right now. _Kirby was here_.

_Greet him then. I'm sure you'll like the reunion._

_Sure thing, soul._

"Kirby?"

The puffball turned back, smiling, and greeted them back.

"Hey, guys. I'm back."

Taranza went first, hugging the puffball.

* * *

AN:

Another day, another chapter.

Our team finally meets Kirby again, after quite some time. That's all well and good. I suppose I have to explain why I don't update as frequently, huh?

As said on the info portion of the fanfic, I update the story here and there, with an inconsistent schedule. I do try to write often, though. My priorities have this story somewhere high, but not as high as actually _living._ I have to say though, I had some fun while writing this chapter.

See you all for the next one.

Guest (WHAT THE BIMPS): Yes, I suppose this does answer how this story gets updated. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

maryokeeffe.16: Say, it _also _reminds me of Kirby: Star Allies. This is a great revelation you've discovered! I thank thee.


	21. Chapter 16 - Ecstatic Euphoria

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 16 - Ecstatic Euphoria**

* * *

"Kirby," Taranza whispered, voice lilting as the spider hugged the confused puffball.

"You're back," Magolor said, with much of the same nostalgia.

Rick cheered as he breathed small embers of fire into the air. "Hey hey, good to meet you again!"

Kirbu chuckled as he held Marx and his hat. "Well, I suppose it's been a long time since I was last here, huh?"

"It has been a long time indeed, since that jester broke into the castle." Magolor pointed to Marx. "Nevertheless, it's pretty nice to see you again. We, ah, should maybe inform the others downstairs…"

Kine, slightly dizzy from being whacked by the steps as he was carried up, muttered. "Uh… wh- Kirby? Hello again…"

Magolor chuckled. "I'll head downstairs and get Coo and Francisca for a little reunion."

"_Francisca_?" Kirby questioned. Taranza stepped backwards, registering the fact. "You know her?"

"Ah, she's the kinder one between all the mage sisters back in Jam_bastion_. Hehe," Kirby smirked, proud of the little joke.

"Oh… I see. Well, I'll get them up anyway. Mind staying for a few minutes longer?"

"I don't mind. It'll be good seeing old friends again."

Magolor nodded, and walked calmly back downstairs.

The next moment was a confusing blur. There was a slam, right behind Kirby, as _Susie_ came barreling out. "What the hell is the ruckus out here-"

Her attention went straight to Kirby. "Pinky! You're here!"

Taranza muttered, "Pinky?", but he paid no heed to it as Kirby went up to the Haltmann and greeted her kindly. "O-oh! I probably should get Marx to a room first… He'll need the rest."

Kirby wandered off again, trying to find what he came here to do in the first place.

Magolor flew up, as he guided the bird and the mage up into the fifth floor. "See? Kirby's right there!"

There was no one there, except for a snickering Taranza, a smiling Kine, an ecstatic Rick, as well as Susie, who was looking out from the door, about to close it.

"I stand corrected."

* * *

Kirby hobbled off to a room, laying Marx down on the provided bed before collapsing on the same bed himself, enjoying the soft blankets.

He soon exited the room however, not wanting to disturb the jester.

He was bombarded with nostalgic fools soon after.

"Kirb! Nice to meet you again! I think your name's actually Kirby, though?"

Kirby laughed. Francisca _finally_ got it right for once. "Yeah, Kirby's the name. Call me Kirb though, if you want to."

"I will!"

Kirby smiled again. Making friends was one feeling he'd forgotten during recent times. He had one too many crazy moments recently.

"So, when can you tell me another story?" Francisca asked.

Kirby backed off slightly, before grinning at the ice mage. "We'll continue the routine tomorrow. I need a break…"

Kirby lagged to a room, and closed the door.

Magolor tilted his head, and shrugged. He walked off to the stairs. Taranza, seeing this, waved him off and began to strike a conversation with Francisca.

Rick, Kine, and Coo began to talk amongst themselves too, standing by the door to Marx's room.

"Kirby a good guy. Really, he is. The puffball's got a good heart, and I'm sure you can see that."

Francisca widened her eye. "Ah, I get it now! This is why she gets in so much trouble! She's just like _me!_"

Francisca twirled around at that. Taranza laughed it off and continued, "Yep. Makes him naive, too. He's easily fooled due to his big heart."

A smirk started to form. "Mind you, this is all I gathered from one glance at the guy. He might have some second side to him- _I don't know-_ but from what I've experienced from, _ahem_, 'working' with him, he's too trusting."

Francisca calmed herself down. She gazed upon Taranza. "I know. Things aren't so fun all the time. Me, my sisters, _Hyness_, you, and all those others Kirb talked about… You've all gone against Kirb-_y_ at some point, as will my family."

She stopped for a moment, and went on. "Kirby may be trusting, but that's what makes her a good person. She knows how to empathise. Correctly. Her forgiveness is also the key point in her character. Don't you get that? She may be naive, but her naivety makes Kirby, well, _**Kirby**__._"

Francisca returned back into character. "Anyways, Taranzy, I'll be seeing you~"

Taranza was held in place as Francisca floated past him, sending a chilly freeze down to the floor.

Taranza turned back, gave a grin, and stood there. Once Francisca turned away, the spider shuddered.

_Taranz-'y', though...? Does she make a nickname for everyone?_

_I don't think so, 'Taranzy', _his soul responded.

_Stop calling me that, please. I don't want to ever hear that nickname again._

…

Eventually, Taranza and the animal trio headed back down to see Magolor hauling a large amount of machinery into the castle.

"What's that for?" Coo pointed.

Magolor dropped the machine he was holding onto the floor, sending a crack or two to the floor, as he mentioned what it was for. "Well, I've got another idea for Challenge Course DX here… and I'll be building it right outside. I'm just moving the materials here… hopefully the penguin won't be too mad."

Kine looked at the size of the pile. "You're going to be, uh, building a _Challenge Course_?"

Magolor nodded. "Yep. It's a reward for Kirby. Don't worry, I have experience," Magolor reassured Kine as the fish pictured a death trap built just for Kirby.

Somehow, a treadmill came into his mind. With spikes on one side. And Kirby running. Endlessly. A 'dread'mill. Ugh.

"If you say so…"

Rick raised a paw, up in the air. The next second, he grabbed Kine's flipper and Coo's wing, and offered their help. "We can help!" Rick stated enthusiastically, despite the faces of the two beside him.

Coo whispered a quick "Suck it up" at Kine, and the fish sighed. "Alright, we'll, uh, _help_ the best we can on that."

Magolor put a hand to his head, saluting. "Aye, workers! This is what I'll need your help for…"

The four gathered together and planned, leaving Taranza to his own machinations.

The arachnid took the opportunity to sleep. On the ground, right then and there. Can't complain about more rest.

…

Taranza awoke in the sunset grasslands, surrounded by the beautiful scenery he so clearly remembers from his _last_ visit.

"You're back."

Taranza whirled around to see his soul, smiling on.

"I am," Taranza chuckled. "Just wanted to talk, I suppose."

They stopped that talk and moved into the **mind**, instead.

_Hmmm. Interesting situation we've got out there, right?_

_I have to say, soul… your abode is astoundingly great._

Taranza sat down on the grass.

_I've been here once and I still can't say that I'm used to this kind of view._

_Oh, Taranza… it's a reflection of _you. _It's why _you're _enjoying it. Your __**heart's**_ _content, without that miasma of emotion enveloping you anymore._

His soul spat at that.

_You kept too many emotions hidden, and that was what caused the downfall in the first place. _Soul's face lightened.

_...I see. Well, we're here now, aren't we?_

_You learned, which is why we're here._

The two looked at each other, the calming wind of the grasslands blowing onto them.

_I sense great sorrow from a soul._

_Who?_

_The jester_.

_Who?_

_I, uh-_

Taranza's soul facepalmed. "It's Marx. _That_ guy. The one sleeping. His soul... has been to some places. Much like Magolor, the lying magician."

Taranza made an 'oh' of understanding and then queried some more.

"He's… cut off. From everyone else. He doesn't view anyone as a _friend_."

"Not even Kirby? I thought they were close, or _something_, based on what Kirby was saying."

"His masks range from zero to a hundred, his emotions nonexistent to overblown-"

"Does he not trust anyone?" Taranza pressed.

"Based on my observations… his soul desperately calls to him. But he rejects it. Rejecting yourself causes pain, both here," His soul pointed to Taranza's chest, "and here," he says, as another finger points to Taranza's head.

"He is simply just very good at pretending that everything is okay. The only genuine emotion I've seen is his determination to _redeem _himself."

The sky turned into night.

"Hmm."

* * *

Taranza woke up to a similar setting, albeit the fact that he was in a castle.

It was night out.

_We talked for that long!?_

Nobody was around. Taranza started looking for anyone to still be around in this hour.

Again, nobody was around in the _dead of the night_. And so Taranza traversed the castle at night without anyone to notice or be noticed by.

He was jumpy at times, but Taranza made it to the foyer of the castle, running around and dropped his seriousness. The world needed more fun, and he was going to give them _the fun_.

Of course, he'd spotted Magolor's giant ship ages ago, but he just wanted to relieve the pent-up stress he had experienced quite recently.

Similarly, a snoring Kirby up on the fifth floor was aiming to do the same.

The next morning was a peaceful one.

Magolor had been checking his ship, making sure it's on tiptop shape. He certainly had a lot on his to-do list, especially cleaning the hull of the ship. That, he'd do alone. It was _his_ ship, after all.

He didn't want to burden everyone in helping him with the maintenance.

So, he opted to simply watch what's happening all around him. The castle is lively at this time of day, with Waddle Dees walking around together, sometimes in groups, accomplishing their various duties around the castle.

King Dedede went on and sorted an agreement with Susie again, he heard. He was one for negotiations, especially business, and that was something he was most interested in, watching the flippant penguin flap his arms as Susie also fired back at the king.

They were in view from a window a floor up, but they did not notice that their arguments were seen from all the way down at the courtyard.

A couple of Dees were watching this all go off along with Magolor, before he directed his attention back to sweeping the hull clean with a cloth.

Kirby, on the other hand, found himself conversing with Taranza, Kine, and Coo. It was small talk, and one which was easily understandable. Somehow, they all got in the flow together. Rick, who was instead chasing an orange butterfly, trying to burn it alive, gave up and resorted instead to giving playful slaps to Francisca's cheek.

Francisca, annoyed by this, punched him to the castle walls. The damage the wall took was significant, leaving a dent in the otherwise sturdy stone wall.

She immediately apologised after.

Taranza laughed the incident off as Kirby, who looked worried, went off to see Rick. Similarly, Kine and Coo also went to check up on their happy-go-lucky friend.

Taranza, now with nothing to do, decided to go in the castle itself. The castle's insides was a grandeur of multiple knickknacks and intricate design reminiscent of a royal hall. A few paintings and hammers were strewn across the area, but Taranza paid them no attention and swept himself up to the fifth floor.

_It's time to pay our extra guest a visit._

…

Taranza barged in Marx's room, and walked in.

There was a jester hat on the table and a sleeping Marx on the bed.

Taranza danced himself beside the jester's bed and tapped Marx lightly with his hand.

That… did not wake him up at all. Taranza shot a gleeful look at the jester before taking a look around the room.

Besides the occupant and his hat, there was nothing that struck Taranza's interest.

Taranza went and looked at Marx's hat, complimenting the funny colors. As the spider lifted the hat by it's tip, a small piece of clockwork fell out, onto the floor.

Tarana bent down and picked up the piece, examining it closely. Upon further investigation, the clockwork seemed to be… shining?

That was certainly what an inanimate object shouldn't do. Especially this piece, which seemed hidden in his hat.

All of a sudden, Taranza began to feel… a little woozy. The arachnid sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to gather his thoughts together, before falling down on the bed, asleep.

He woke up in an unknown place, nearly pitch black. With a click (or was it a snap?), the lights turned on. Billions of stars jutted out from nowhere, shining their brilliant lights on the spider. Blinded by this sudden light show, Taranza covered his eyes with his arm.

An eclipse dawned on him as he did this, as if the world was at his beck and call. It was not, however.

Marx was approaching him, the light from the stars shining so bright that he was practically the only thing that stood out.

The two got closer and closer, as they both closed the distance, with Marx approaching the now confused Taranza.

"Hey. Haven't seen anyone new here before."

Taranza smiled. "Ah! Yes, yes, I suppose you would not. Name's Taranza, the greatest of them all! Now, hand me your cash, gold, possessions, and power."

The spider chuckled. "Nah, not really."

Marx took a look at him, before walking off, disappearing into mist as Taranza looked forward. He had vanished into thin air.

"Some people here don't get humor..."

"Hey, I do!" the jester's voice replied, from his back.

"Oh, you do? Well then…"

Taranza did not question how Marx just teleported behind him or why this space is.. well, _space_, and a million other questions.

No, he's one to take these types of situations in stride. Usually.

Taranza turned around, as he came face-to-face with a half-faced Marx, the core of a black hole in the middle.

Taranza had not one chance to scream before getting sucked in.

He was unceremoniously dropped right onto… solid air? Well, he landed on his face, and his face tells him that _air_ was somehow solid.

Taranza lifted himself up and saw Marx sitting, facing the arachnid as his wings flickered between colors before eventually settling on red.

"I might have to introduce myself. Ahem… you can call me _soul_, and my body _Marx. _Together… we would be Marx Soul?"

…

Adeleine took her fan brush and splotched some trees into the background of the piece. The green hues of the leaves mixed with the yellow she used at lighting, as well as the contrasting black; an extreme choice for shadow, but it made the painting look all the more striking.

Adeleine held up her usual brush and started to fill in the colors of Rick, Kine, and Coo. They had commissioned her well enough, and it was nigh time for her to deliver on her artwork.

Her eyes grew tired soon after, but she pushed on, painting every last detail until she was satisfied with the end result. Liking her creation, a wash of varnish was put over the entire canvas, as she packed up her supplies and her easel, ready to move out of the basement she was still in to pass time.

Adeleine exited the basement and headed up to the courtyard to enjoy the sun. Or, what _would've_ been the sun.

The sky looked black as the night. She didn't even realise it at all. Her hand went to her head, before removing her hat and going back in the castle to _maybe_ borrow a room.

Time went by so quickly, she didn't even notice that it was already the crack of dawn. That was how bad she was at this 'time' thing.

In actuality, she's the type to finish something to end… disregarding how late it is in exchange for work.

It wasn't a healthy lifestyle, but Adeleine got more fun in painting that way. A painter's way of life is really hectic, despite it nothing looking like such. She rushes to finish commissions, conversing with friends or clients, and then sleep for an entire day after she's done with a piece.

Nevertheless, Adeleine walked back in the castle and decided to go up to the fifth floor of the castle in order to claim a guest room.

Walking up, walking up, walking up…

Waking up, waking up, waking up…? Off..

Head feels off. Adeleine clutched her scalp as she held her painter's hat and stumbled on the step.

There she lay, asleep, on the stairs of Dedede castle. Nobody would touch her until afternoon came.

…

The animal trio stood in their room, not asleep, as they chatted amongst themselves, with small games being played between themselves.

On the second night in the castle, they had already _mostly_ acquainted themselves with their temporary homes. Kirby, who had gone off earlier to see Rick, got caught up and talked until night with the animal trio.

Francisca, wanting to make more friends, also followed the pink ball and somehow ended up as the topic of their current conversation.

"I tell you, Francisca's got some scary strength in that petite body!" Rick pointed out.

For _some_ reason, Coo looked offended by that sentence.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. Who'd expect Francisca carrying an _axe_ and a weird… blaster?"

"Aha, it's a water pistol. My sis, 'Zanne, showed me the most effective way to use it. Since then I've just been blasting my enemies out into space!" Francisca twirled around.

She then pulled out said pistol, showing it off to the group. "See? Simple 'may-kahn-is-umm'. _Mechanism_. Yeah, mechanism! I click this-" Francisca pressed the trigger.

A jet of water tore a hole through the window of the room.

Kine sighed.

"Err… you can room with me instead…?" Francisca erred.

Kirby chuckled. "Well, we'll the king to fix it up later. I'm sure he can ask his troops to do it. I have confidence in him."

Opposite to the cheery atmosphere in Rick, Kine, and Coo's room, Susie was currently scratching her head off looking at the pile of documents Dedede had handed her regarding their trade deal.

Ten minutes after staring at the paper blankly, she picked up the papers and slammed the documents onto the table. It's not that the deal wasn't advantageous, per se, but the fact that nearly all of it had Dedede's 'accent' all over it.

It was hell to read, and Susie already had the beginnings of an aneurysm reading the damn thing.

However, as a (nearly proficient) business owner, she had to deal with these kinds of things. Back off to reading she went, mumbling curses and unladylike words directed at the paper.

Her door opened. On guard, Susie stood up that instant and turned her head to the door.

Magolor was there, waving a hand, as he started to close the door behind him.

Susie went from surprise to anger. She balled her fists and smacked Magolor straight in the face. The magician, who didn't see it coming, took the punch.

Following it up, Susie pulled out her gun and pointed it Magolor before realising it was _Magolor._

"Magolor? Why didn't you knock!? I nearly had a heart attack hearing that _in the middle of the night_!"

Magolor staggered, as he clutched his poor face which was smashed against the door by the hand.

"Geez, calm down, lady. I didn't know you were doing something. I just came here to greet you before going into _my_ room. Can't deny a king's hospitality, after all _hrk-_"

Magolor ducked from a stray shot. Susie's gun was smoking. She actually looked apologetic this time. "Believe me, _that_ was an accident."

Magolor shrugged and continued the conversation.

"Anyways, good meeting you. I'll just head out now, since you clearly don't want to talk to me…" Magolor mumbled, awkwardly backing off.

The conversation lasted a great five seconds before Magolor decided to cut it short and headed off. Susie, who was staring agape at the mess, shook her head and walked back to her desk. The papers needed reading, after all.

* * *

Magolor went off to his 'room'. The talk with Susie hadn't gone as well as he thought, as he held his hurt face. _Honestly, that woman had an attitude._

_You're not wrong._

His soul had chuckled at him, at his predicament. Magolor ignored it and went to his room. Inside was what he had found in Susie's room, minus the papers. Overall, a good room in the castle.

Shambling over to the bed, Magolor tried to sleep. Soon enough, the waves of drowsiness overcame him as he fell victim to the sickness known as sleep.

Moonlight shone at the magician through the open windows his room had, and the flicker of the moon could be seen atop Magolor's head.

Deep inside, Magolor stood, face inexpressive, as he saw a great waterfall float upside down, his Lor parked right beside it. Beside him, his soul came up and patted him on the shoulder.

"Hey, hey. I changed the location a bit, for a more fantasy feel, you know? Got bored of the ship. Maybe I'll return there again."

Magolor widened his eyes, turning to his soul as a light bulb clicked in his head. _Souls talk?_ Well, he knew souls talk. But a real, physical voice… He hadn't heard one of those come from the soul in _ever_.

His soul's voice had a small lilt to it, dancing somberly with it's deepened tone. It was similar to Magolor, if he had not all those meekness inside of him.

"I didn't realise that souls talk," Magolor stated, shocked at the revelation.

"Well, as we grow as an individual, us souls become a part of you more and more, you know? After a great schism done by some traumatic or worse off events, the soul and the mind hadn't really had a good time to connect back, see?" His soul explained, propping his hands to his sides. "And here I thought you had become an intelligent person after you researched all about souls."

Magolor stumbled around his words for a bit. "Well, _yes,_ but I think we're the only people right now to ever experience a great schism like this. Can't really ask anyone else about it, you know?"

"What are you talking about? Taranza knows it, and he hadn't mentioned anything to you?"

Ah, the bastard of a spider. _I'll kill him later._

Magolor sighed. "Well. Hu-"

A tremble rocked across the dream world. His soul looked terrified at that. The moment, everything changed.

It was all black.

...

Magolor awoke in cold sweat, as his heartbeat raced.

Something felt wrong. It was so wrong in fact, that he didn't register the feeling at all until a couple seconds later, Taranza calling out to him.

It was morning. There was also a panicking Taranza beside him.

Taranza had a face one would not see from him very often; a face of terror.

"Oi, sleepyhead. I didn't take you to be a heavy sleeper, so listen up," Taranza shakily started.

The next word came as a shock.

"We're absolutely fucked. Hyness came for us. There's an army outside the castle. Actually, _there's a castle outside the castle_. We need manpower _now._ You and I are the ones with soul forms, so we gotta dash."

Magolor contemplated that for a second, as he stepped out of the comfortable bed. He took another second, and another.

An unwieldy scream pierced the air. "What the HELL!?"

"_Aha,_ we're really fucked," Taranza deadpanned, as he watched Magolor scream his lungs out as the magician burst out of the room through the windows. Panic was one thing he'd really did not expect Magolor to get caught up on.

* * *

AN:

Ah, this chapter was a late one. I had too many exams to take…

Anyways, this chapter marks the first use of 'fuck'. Not a word I'd like to use so often, what's with the teen rating and the other curse words and what not, but it's one word that I had in mind to explain the next chapter.

There's so much good fanfiction out there, really. Reading them gave an idea, and that idea rolled around in my head to be used as an example with my stories. Then again, writing fiction had been different than reading fiction, so that's a whole 'nother world. I'd say it's all pretty fun, though. All these characters and you get to characterize accordingly…

Then again, Kirby has a lot of ambiguous characterization. For example, take Magolor. You got this one part of Magolor defined in canon, but then there's this blank hole on what the _rest_ of his character feels like. It's great filling those holes, trying to make these characters fit in the narrative. It's much more open compared to writing a character who already has their character-ness, defined in canon. It might suck, but you can definitely say it's a great writing attempt.

That's it for this chapter, and I thank you all for reading this one to begin with. It's nice to know people do read these things.

Markuxito: Ah, about that. My update schedule, or say, the lack of it is probably there's a huge gap between updates. The pace is inconsistent. I try to see it to the end.


	22. Chapter 17 - Lurking Loss

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 17 - Lurking Loss**

* * *

A day before the untimely arrival of Jambastion at the castle's doorsteps, Taranza had been talking with Marx's Soul.

"See, we've both done some great deal of hurt, so let's avoid that…" Soul Marx tipped over the conversation.

"How about a premonition?"

Taranza tilted his head. "A _premonition?"_

"Ever heard of 'the calm before the storm'?" the soul asked. Taranza blanched. "Ah, something's about to come, right?"

"Correct." the soul sighed. "With my knowledge on Hyness, the madlad will probably strike tomorrow."

"Is that a joke? I know you're a jester and all, but you can't be serious."

Soul Marx stopped. "...I admit, it's an assumption, but it's one I made in full confidence."

"I see. I'll watch out for it. Any other things you want me to know about?"

Taranza talked cheeringly to the soul for a bit before they bid goodbye and left Taranza alone in Marx's room, with an awake Marx at his sight.

"I saw your talk with me. With my _soul_, I mean," the jester corrected himself.

"Please ignore all of my soul's ramblings."

Taranza was confused by this. "Hah?"

Marx hummed. "My soul is a bit crazy in there. I should say that the last time my… true self came out, I was split in two and basically, uh, I _died_, so…"

Marx had no idea why he spurted that out. But then again, he couldn't cry over spilt milk.

"So cool!" Taranza eyes gleamed in the moonlight.

"Eh?" Marx had not expected this reaction at all.

In an overreaction, Taranza went over and gripped Marx's face harshly, causing the jester to yell in pain. "Your tale is amazing! Wow, I've never heard of this before! Please, tell me-"

Taranza then promptly collapsed on the floor, releasing the shocked Marx as the spider tumbled down.

…

"Out of line."

Marx was displeased at his soul's interference. That was certainly not the first impression he wanted to make.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. Got a little excited there," his soul cheekily replied.

Taranza held a hand up to his face. "Can you not do that again without informing me? I woke up watching myself act like… well, not me."

His soul laughed, shedding a few friendly tears. "It's what I have to do sometimes, get a good laugh in, alright?" the soul choked out.

"Okay, okay, let me just regain control and I'll be off on my way…" Taranza slowly slipped away, leaving a hacking reflection of him behind.

"Never gets old. Maybe I'll try again next time."

…

Marx looked worryingly at the spider. Was he insane? He looked visibly insane when he talked to him. What was up with that?

The arachnid rose from the floor as Marx watched in confusion. The next line he spouted out wasn't what he expected.

"Darned soul, I swear…" Taranza mumbled. The spider then turned to Marx and stood up, clearly with a different behaviour. "Let's start over, shall we? The name's Taranza, and what you just saw just now was my _soul._"

Soul. Right. The one word which caused him nightmares. "Ah, uh…?" Marx didn't know how to handle this situation. Clearly, the spider was pissed. Is he actually insane?

Marx shook the thought off his head. Taranza's expression changed again. "Right, so… you are?"

"Marx. Nice meeting you." Taranza chuckled. "Alright, now that introductions are out of the way, I'll excuse myself now…" Taranza slipped out of the room, leaving Marx alone. "Weird guy," the jester mumbled, trying to sleep it off.

Taranza, having exited the room, stretched his hands and hobbled off to his own temporary dwelling. Entering his own room, the spider opened the room's windows, allowing the fresh night air to flow in.

Taranza hopped on the bed, and within seconds, was snoring away.

* * *

Back in present day, the morning brought many troubles, including a massive army outside the castle.

_Flamberge_ took a deep breath. Not a good day, especially with the mission. She breathed in and out. She needed to remain unseen, unnoticed.

Preparing herself for what's to come, Flamberge raced down the fifth floor, searching. Francisca's extraction was key here.

Across the hallway was Magolor. Flamberge stopped herself as she hid. Magolor was _there._ Oh, how she wished there was a _distraction_.

A mass of black flew up the fifth floor and crashed through the hallway's windows. Multiple creatures of similar stature soon followed. Magolor, who began to worry, shot off a ball of shadow and ran for his life, popping his teleport right to the ship mid-run. Flamberge pumped her fists in the air.

Flamberge allowed herself to smile at the convenient black goo. Pointing her finger, the fire mage directed the monsters into where Francisca should be right now. They needed her alive. She was her sister, after all.

One of the black goop stumbled to her, jiggling for directions. Irritated, Flamberge slapped the offending creature and shot her hands off to the door where their target is (hopefully) asleep.

No mistakes needed to be made. Pleased with the consistency of her stealth, Flamberge walked up to a room and checked. She promptly ran soon after, disappearing off into the door's right, just in case.

After multiple room checks, Flamberge became frustrated. She could not locate Francisca at all; not even a peep or a sound from her sister came. Isn't she in danger from these _natives_? Annoyed, she left the castle, thinking that they must've hid her sister somewhere. It wouldn't matter if she found her or not, anyway. They were going to bring back Termina soon, and her search would have to wait. As much as she hated it, Termina's resurrection had been top priority. That, she could not ignore.

In reality…

…

Kirby woke up groggily as the puffball felt something consuming his foot. A quick glance proved that it was something dark. Kirby was off to sleep again.

_Hold on, that wasn't right._ Kirby checked again, and this time was when the pink ball had panicked badly. Kirby let out a horrendous scream, waking up the rest of his comrades who had fallen asleep in the same room that night.

"Wazzuh? Wha- AIEEEEEEEEEEE-"

Coo flapped before _looking up_ and saw that they were creeping up on the ceiling, too.

Rick responded by torching the thing alive, while Kine simply hopped on to Rick and didn't let go for fear of death. Oddly enough, the only one who got ignored by the creatures was Francisca, as she woke from her slumber amongst her new friends.

"Uh… Eh?" Francisca woke with a groggy start. Matter was everywhere. "Why is there… black goop, ahaha?" she confusingly laughed, still half-asleep.

"Ehe, play with me!" Francisca brazenly approached the miniature dark matters and hugged it directly, causing it to disappear upon touch. Francisca laughed again. "Hide and seek? Sure, my sister always played that… The shadows never catch her, ah…"

Francisca collapsed. Kirby, who was by then was swallowing the beast and shooting it out had himself preoccupied by the amount of things he had to check. Speaking of which, Francisca half mentioned something something 'sister' in her rambling. Could one of them be the cause in the hellhole?

Kirby perused the line of thought, giving it some time before cutting the line of thought and moved it directly to the point where the problem lay.

_Who sent these monstrosities?_

Kirby sent a look at the downed black sludge and paced around the room, thinking, before deciding to carry Francisca off to a safe place. Priorities.

Hiding Francisca under the bed, Kirby shot off into the night, fully intending to investigate why.

* * *

Hyness sent Jambastion off to Dreamland, speeding off to the star-shaped planet in order to enact the other part of _the plan_. Bored of multiple escapes and the lack of fun, the cultist had turned its sights on the planet directly.

Landing on the planet, Hyness cackled a quick "Kekeke." and began the next step. Waiting for the correct time of day, as the troops weren't going to be in top condition at _night._

Thus, Hyness waited.

...

Hyness had run out of patience. The patience meter the cult leader had was wasted on both the trip here and the invasion of the planet itself. It was now morning, at least. Hyness decreed an order, to nobody in particular. "Mobilize, our troops-ke, our star-spangled-"

Hyness was cut off right there when alarms began blaring. Someone somewhere had breached the castle. And the cultist is going to make whoever it is _pay._ Hyness looked around for Zan Partizanne. "You guard the place. I going to kill, hunt for our lord; yet I cry for them all!" An unclear order spouted out of Hyness, but Zan Partizanne got the gist of it. "Right away! On guard I be! Right."

Hyness nodded, head shaking erratically as his nods eventually became crazed, spinning in all directions. In a sickening crack, Hyness abruptly stops and heads out the antechamber, leaving Zan Partizanne on guard. The cultist had to guard the _spectator_. Couldn't leave him free, after all.

Jambastion was on alert as Magolor and Taranza infiltrated the base. Magolor, who was careful enough to sneak around the place, filled with enemies, managed himself through a series of levitations. On the other hand, Taranza leapt across his webs to wherever Magolor would go. Together, they both crossed into the inside of the bastille.

Magolor, feeling lonely, decided to engage in some small talk with Taranza. "Hey, so, it's about time we talked things out, yeah? What'd you want to do after this whole ordeal is over?"

Taranza pondered that for a bit, before responding, "Yeah, maybe I'll go back to my house and settle down."

Magolor's interest was piqued now. "Oh really? I didn't know you were _that_ type of guy." Taranza laughed. "Of course I am! I'm just repaying my debt to Kirby, after all! Not a big fan of adventures in the first place. Come on, you could tell, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course I can," Magolor waved it off.

Magolor turned his attention back to the hallways they were pacing in, with an eerie silence ringing across it all.

It was, in fact, _too silent_. Magolor slowly nudged Taranza, who turned and looked at him. "Eh?" the spider questioned.

"It's too quiet. I've got a bad feeling about this," the magician confided. Turning a corner, the two snuck around it, expecting company.

What greeted them was a pink ball, slightly hurt but still standing just fine. Kirby.

His heart leapt out of his chest as Magolor stumbled back before casting a spell. Magolor fired it on reflex, nearly hitting Kirby as the pink ball dashed out of the way. Taranza, ignorant of the situation, simply waved at the panicked Kirby.

"Hey hey! You're here! That's great! I was hoping for some extra support," Taranza cheerfully greeted.

Calming down, Magolor apologised (which Kirby accepted) and moved on. "So, what's the situation?"

"Room's clear. We're heading to what I _think_ is the main room now. It's a _main room_ when there's a big bad door blocking the way, right?" Magolor chuckled at that. "O' course it is! It's been the staple of grand designs since forever. Though, you may want to ask King Dedede about that one."

"Aah, you might be correct. Oh well, we're too deep _in this_," Kirby gestured around himself, "to back out now."

"True, true. So! Let's move, then?" Taranza tried to get the group moving. Nodding, Magolor followed Kirby, who was eagerly showing them the path to the door.

That was exactly when Taranza popped his seemingly innocent question in mind.

"You know, I've been thinking." The spider stopped in his tracks. His head hung down, as if in shame.

Magolor turned around to look at Taranza- no, his friend. Magolor turned around to look at his _friend_. Kirby, curious as to what the spider had to say, simply commented. "What've you been thinking? The strategy of battle already?"

What came next shocked them both.

With an earnest smile, Taranza told it all.

"Hyness has some really good ideas! The prospect of a _god_!" Taranza swung his hands open, smiling devilishly. "A _god_, one which will unite the world under his reign!"

Taranza looked at both Magolor and Kirby.

"**Termina!** He is the one who will reign over the universe! And I _worship him_, of course. Since you're both opposing him, I suppose I must eliminate you both now. What a pity." Taranza hoarsely laughed. It was a sad laugh.

"I was never your friend. You were simply a means to an end. And now, goodbye." By that sentence, a ball of shadow was flying to Taranza's face, Magolor stricken and half-crying at the hell he was witnessing. It was a complete 180.

_Is Taranza secretly… with __**them?**_

Shaking the thought off his head, Magolor back off slightly. Taranza, unamused and _still_ standing, simply chuckled.

"_What a waste of life._"

Ten pillars of light shot up from the ground below. Catching the two off guard, Tarana pulled his last move. "I will be joining Termina at last! I'll be rid of this mess!"

Ten hot plasma-filled pillars bombed the hallway catching Magolor and Kirby in them. It left a smoking Magolor and a further weathered-down Kirby, now actually looking hurt. Magolor screamed in the air. "Why!? Why now!? Why, at this crucial moment, do you want to do this?"

Magolor gripped his hood. "I thought we were _friends!_"

Taranza snickered. "Haven't I already explained it to you? _You're a means to the end._ Termina will be revived. And I will follow the strongest player in this game. _Not you._" The arachnid's grin turned wider as Magolor looked despairingly at the sudden turnaround.

Kirby shouted. "We'll just have to take you down, then!" Kirby shivered in place, looking worried he hadn't actually fought Tarana before, and yet he usually would have full confidence against someone of his stature like this. This unnerve he was feeling… It reminded him of a terrible, terrible fight.

Zero Two.

The white, bloody eye had been the topic of nightmares for days even for the hero of Dreamland, cursing the pink ball wherever he ventured in his sleep.

This act of fear was noticed by Taranza. "Oho? The great Kirby, afraid? I didn't expect this, truly."

"We'll just take ya' down, then!" Magolor announced. In a swish of motion, Magolor threw away his scarf and revealed his weapon

"Interesting, _child of the dark_. Interesting."

Magolor had an eye for a mouth. He began to fall back, about to hit the ground, when his other eye started wiggling about in its socket. Magolor parted with the one horrified Kirby and one amused spider. "I'll let you handle it from here."

His eye rolled, as the _soul_ surfaced. "Sure. Will do."

The magician's soul smirked, as his body lay midair in an awkward position. Magolor…? laughed, as he turned into Soul Magolor. "Finally, no restrictions. The _power_; oooo! The Master Crown did me well. Except the _shit_ mental stuff, oh, none of that.

His mouth (eye?) smiled, his _eye_ twisting in its socket. Magolor Soul turned to Kirby. "Hey. It's me again. The one you sliced with a goddamn sword."

Magolor sent the puffball a calming expression with it's _eye_. "Don't worry. I'm on a side now. It's been more fun than you can imagine. Let's get it started, shall we?"

Kirby, knocked out of his stupor, nodded and readied himself. It was crazy, but it was up to his levels of crazy. Putting the thought of the disgusting monster aside, Kirby moved into a stance.

Taranza, who calmly waited for his opponents to be done, smiled. "As he's said, we'll get it started."

Another round of plasma blasted out of the floor again. _Soul_ however, had a different tactic. Black mist was billowing out of his _eye_, encapsulating the area. Taranza stopped smirking.

After a few seconds of pitch black, Kirby's vision cleared. Undamaged, the puffball stood in confusion as Tarana lost his cool and started to burst out incoherent words.

Magolor and Kirby weren't damaged at all. The magician had devised a counter. "Not so smug are you now, huh?" _Soul_ taunted.

"Oh boy."

Taranza blanched, and sent a barrage of light bullets to the two, officially starting off their battle.

* * *

King Dedede surveyed the damage. He had already sent out the better part of his army to negate most of the forces currently rampaging in his castle. Drinking a cup of tea, the king had a serious face on as he picked up his hammer.

What was a king if they didn't participate in war once in a while? Dedede knew this well, after antagonizing a lot of people in his country. It took him a year to solve most of the hell he brought on himself, a war he partook in himself. Now, he was off to war with the big bad. Not an ideal pick, but the king couldn't complain.

His hammer ready, the king stormed off to help defend the castle against the heavy troops of Jambastion.

Elsewhere, Susie picked up her gun. No way in hell was she going to leave the situation alone. She was proud to engage in business, and there is no business if the other party is gone. So, for her safety and her business partner, she was going to have to shoot a couple of rounds into the troops below.

Marx himself was off sleeping. He was a heavy sleeper. In contrast, Rick, Kine, and Coo were defending themselves against a storm of black goo creatures, blasting (and sometimes accidentally hitting the walls with one of their attacks) them with their normal elements.

Francisca was unconscious under a bed. Nobody bothered the young mage. Nobody at all. It was just a black, _dark_ entity, who watched her as she lay on the floor. The entity had hid inside of her and was now ready to rampage the castle from the inside. Termina's orders had always been vague, but the entity shrugged it off. It was commonplace in this day and age after the defeat of Zero Two. Now, another Zero will be built, starting from square one. The entity readied itself, as it called to all shadows, all of the _same_. They will restart again, after the death of Zero and Zero Two.

Always, from _Zero_.

* * *

AN: And the story continues! Here's where it begins to head to the deep end.

There are interesting situations I'd like to put the character through. We've had a lot of boring things; now here's the fun stuff! The next chapter will contain an extra, and after that we'll be back with our main show. Back on track again!

Anyways, thanks for reading, and I bid you all adieu. Here's to the next one!

Guest (inchwyrm): Indeed! A reunion at last, eh? Happy or not, the plot goes on!

* * *

…?

Confusing, confusing. Confusion.

Everything was happening while Magolor and Kirby faced off against Taranza. But somewhere else at the same time, there exists _another_ Taranza. And this Taranza doesn't seem too happy.

I wonder. Why so? Chuckling to myself, at the sight of battle, I lift up and up. It was time to make my visit.

…

An orange butterfly left the scene.

* * *

There was ground. The ground was lifeless; without life, as Taranza froze in place.

"A premonition, yes?"

A black void was not what Taranza expected when he woke up in the dream world. Something's off. It's cold.

The warm sun his dreams usually had was now nonexistent, vanishing into nothing as the blackened landscape proved to be a depressing atmosphere for him.

In front of him was a person; no, a _being_, one radiating an aura of malevolence that Taranza shivered upon casting his eyes on the creature.

"_A premonition, yes?_" the being repeated, cocking his head..? The being doesn't even _have_ a head. It had a mask, somewhat similar to a crow's face. It's body (if you could call it one) was a black, red, and purple mess, all coalescing into a swirl of color as it's stubby, feathered hands crossed, suddenly swung apart like that of a madman, cackling.

It laughed. And it laughed. And it _laughed_. In a 180 turn, the being stopped laughing. Taranza stood there frozen, unable to comprehend what was even in front of him.

"Excuse me, my _son._ I am one of dark malice, the progenitor, the god. Termina. And you, my son, have a role to play." The being; Termina; smiled, with a smile so wide it expanded up to the sides of his mask. "The role to _die_."

It went on a tantrum. "YOU MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO LIVE! YOU ARE A WORTHLESS CRETIN, ONE WHICH THE WORLD HAS TURNED ITS BACK UPON! And what would your love say, should she still be alive? A useless piece of shit, I'd say," the being explained mockingly, from mad to calm, from itself to a mirror image of Sectonia, half flower and half covered in the same substance the original creature was.

Taranza widened his eyes. This was a nightmare, right? It isn't logical… Sectonia was dead. She was dead. _I helped in killing her._

In an act of bravado, Taranza shot a cluster of light attacks at the self-proclaimed god. The being raised it's hand to counter it. Taranza, seeing this, swung up to him to deliver a blow. He shot web at the being, to restrict his movements. With it all set up, he can't miss.

And yet he did. His fist phased right through, as Taranza bellowed out a cry and followed it up with another light attack.

No matter how much he threw at the monster, nothing connected. Not one attack hit the so-called god. "Are you quite done, my child?" he asked, like some loving, doting father.

Taranza wasn't one to take the question in a kind way. Thus, he charged the being. Ranged attacks didn't work, so melee _had_ to be the way, right?

The next second was agony. The creature retaliated, fisting Taranza to the ground with a crash, bits of the dreamworld cracking under the immense pressure. Taranza fell to the ground, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at the being. It all happened in slow-motion.

Blood. Taranza screamed. The pain was instant, and like a bomb, it spread out, as his… _his-_

His lower abdomen was no more, crushed into pulp with one swing of the giant's fists, as pain comes rolling in, Taranza tearing up at the pain, the pain, the pain pain pain pain _pain_ **pain-**

It wasn't a dream. None of this feels like a dream.

The spider let out a yell, a shriek, anything to keep his mind off the damage. Would he be crippled for life? The question never made it to Taranza's head, as he processed everything and anything in a panic. The arachnid was hyperventilating, his breaths ragged and off the beat, his eyes swinging from side to side looking at his would be murderer.

It wasn't a dream-

"You you you you _you_ **youaaaaa-**" Not even a coherent sentence could be formed as Taranza once again yelled to the nonexistent sky of the dream world, of the _nightmare_ world he was in.

The creature backed up, not with fear, but with amusement. "As the child of light, I would suspect that you would resist and persist more… perhaps I was wrong." The being started to dance. "Oh! How I enjoy your _malice_, your _hatred_ for me, those emotions, the _hate-"_

He stopped abruptly. "It seems our time is up. My battalion is here. And you, my child, shall fight against it. Oh, how I would revel at the sight of your blood dripping down from you… as your hate drips down to the person who killed you. I must say, I enjoyed this quite a lot. And thus I bid you goodbye." Termina had a sickeningly sweet smile as he approached the spider.

Taranza could only sniffle as the creature raised his foot, right above his head, and plopped it down right on top. 'Squish' wasn't even a good word to describe it. It felt like a migraine at first, but then you notice your eyeballs popping out, as your head became a mess of blood and gore, leaving your body all alone-

…

Taranza awoke in a panic. His heart rate skyrocketed, as his surroundings looked off. He wasn't in the castle anymore. With that, Hyness stepped in, greeting him.

"Welcome to Jambastion! How may I serve you, dear customer? I have hearts, _dark hearts, _and lots of love, love, love, love, _love!_"

"So, how may I help you? Ke?"

If anything, the small piece of acted sanity simply unnerved the spider even further. It took him a while to even notice the bindings around him.

"Oi, shut up!" the spider yelled.

"Kekekeke. My god, Termina, has blessed, _blessed_ the world! And I ruin it for him, yes? What a great and loyal follower, _yes_!?" Hyness gripped the sides of Taranza's head. With strength, the cultist began shaking it back and forth. "You and you and _me!_ Are going to have some fun. Fun, fun, fun, fun, ke_ke_kekeke!"

Things didn't look so good now.


	23. EX - Burning BODIES, Constant TRAVEL

**Star's Allies**

**Extra - Burning BODIES, Constant TRAVEL**

* * *

It reeked of smoke. Everything was burning. Colours of orange and red surrounded the poor young girls. It had become a source of fear, of hatred, of _pain._

Everything was lost in the fire. She only had two siblings left, and only one of them was coping with the tragedy. It's as if she took the fire, seared it into her _heart_, and with an undying vow, swore to protect them all.

It's as they say. Fight fire with _fire_.

The other panicked, erratically looking at the dead, burnt bodies and the man who caused the fire, still alive even in the hellhole they were all now in. Unable to make her stand, she brokenly stared off to nowhere, eyes blank.

Thunderous roars rained down. From her stance, she yelled up to the clouds.

The last cried, cried, _cried_ until she could cry no more. The tears trickled down her lovely face, ruining it into a mess as the fire consumed it all. The man cackled, cackled, and cackled some more, as it all felt like an eternity, forever _and ever and ever and ever and-_

The man was dead. And all who witnessed it looked at the corpse. It was clean. One of the girls shrieked, _over_ the verge of breakdown. The two others, calm and collected; relieved, even _smiling_ at the death of man.

That was when a young, cloaked individual extended her hand to the youngest. Immediate distrust. Who are you? What are you? You…

No sound came from the being. It simply smiled sincerely, its hand held out for those who would take it.

The youngest acted first, half-crying and subconsciously went to hold the stranger, find _comfort_-

Her sister gripped her hand, and dragged her away. She had had enough. No more fire. No more pain. Pain, pain, pain wracked across their entire bodies, despite only being slightly burned. She took the fire and made it her passion. And yet it hurt.

_Emotional pain_; the pain from _the heart_; coursed through, bulging in every artery and vein they have, as Flamberge dragged Francisca away from the strange cloak-man.

Running away in fear from further despair, the young Flamberge grabbed Zan Partizanne and ran into the fire. Should they escape, they would never have to face the world again.

Escape. Escape from the man. Escape from the cloaked being. _Escape the world._

It was funny to think of that, because the pain returned. The fire licked their skin, burning, burn, burned.

The flame raced across their dirtied clothing as the cloaked individual watched on. Zan Partizanne could no longer take the mental and physical abuse to her body, as the child broke down amongst the big red walls, laying down.

Flamberge panicked. She must keep all of them alive. What would be a big sister if there was no other sister left?

Hugging Francisca for dear life, Flamberge turned and faced her death. It was inevitable, the fire would soon reap all of their _souls_, as it leapt from burning building to trees to bushes to _them_-

And it all cleared. One blink, and the fire was no longer there. It was as if it was all a dream. Remembering a certain technique passed down from their mother, Flamberge slapped her own face in disbelief. It had hurt. It wasn't a dream.

_they were fine they were fine they were fine and all it took was a blink a blink in the system a blink of life and they were fine fine fine fine fine_

The cloaked individual stood there, hand raised.

Flamberge looked forward to this peculiar individual. They were alive. By a miracle. So, how did it happen? Her distrust to this being slowly lowered to a smoulder. Then, the being spoke.

"My name is Hyness. I am one of the great mages, and it is my job to rescue people such as you. May I ask for your name?" Hyness queried, dropping his-

No, _her_ hood. Below that hood was a beautiful woman, a face unlike any other; simply unique in its features. She had a small string tied to her hair as an accessory in a triangle shape, keep what would otherwise be hindering hair out of the way.

Flamberge, taken aback by this, responded to the question with another question. "Why… why did you come for us?"

Hyness smiled. "It's my job. Earnestly? I like helping people. It brings joy to me to see young ones like you be so happy to have a chance at life."

Flamberge liked this adult. She softened, letting down her guard. Hyness approached. "How about you come with me? It's been a while since I had people like you with me. It'll help with your sisters, as well…

Hyness looked behind Flamberge to see two unconscious children and a treasure trove of trauma.

Hyness looked back at the eldest. "Are you sure you're alright, too? I'm getting more worried by the second, keke…"

Hyness let out a small laugh, iconic to the mage. Flamberge looked confused, and deemed it as an adult thing. "No, I'm not hu-" she looked back down at herself, and continued, "just, help these two. Please."

Hyness grinned. "Of course! It's what I do that makes me proud! Saving lives!" With a flair of her arms, she extravagantly swung them open. Sensing no response from the young child, she awkwardly backed down.

"W-well, would you like to come with me?"

Flamberge looked around the sea of ashes. The environment was blood red, and there was no way she wanted to be here. She wants out out _out out out out…_

_Out of here. Nothing is left. Nothing was._

Nodding, Flamberge shivered as the Hyness touched her. Like a mother coddling a little child, Hyness walked with Flamberge, bringing her sisters back with her.

* * *

The starship was amazing. In the shape of a top, it had achieved maximum speed in under five minutes. Flamberge wowed as space flew by exceedingly quickly.

A star went supernova a good few lightyears away. Shaking up the ship a bit, Flamberge felt the shockwave and went to warn Hyness.

A good walk across the ship later, Flamberge walked up to Hyness.

"Ms. Hyness!" Hyness turned to see the curious girl. "What's that burning ball doing?"

Entertaining the little girl, Hyness ruffled her hair a bit. "It's going boom boom. After that, it'll be gone. But now, let's watch it, okay?"

"Yay!" Flamberge began to drag her adopted mother to the window's location. Zan Partizanne, who was wandering around with Francisca, simply followed them too. Francisca, after noticing that she was too short to see through the window, pouted and left them alone.

Hyness noted the personalities of the children. The blue haired one doesn't seem to remember anything about the _event_. The yellow one had fragmented memories; luckily, nothing too brutal.

Flamberge, though…

She knew that the hot-headed and curious girl was holding it all in. Acting as a sponge, she took the trauma and forcefully beat it down.

That said, though the effects of trauma sometimes caught up to her, she seems fine… until you hear her sobbing alone in her room.

The first time Hyness had heard that was when she had been strolling around late at night checking on the conditions of the children.

She soon began to take extra measures to rid Flamberge of that sadness. Whether it be cheering her up occasionally, or giving her toys and such. Sometimes, those moments are truly the one she wouldn't hesitate to smile on.

A genuine smile towards these young survivors.

A good fourteen days into her journey had done her this. Sheesh.

Well, she enjoyed it. As with any other happy moment, this one became a file stored in a cabinet soon enough. And it kept piling up. More and more days would pass, and Hyness would become even happier.

This happiness is mutual. Hyness could feel it. The kids also probably can, too. She wanted to have them around. Seeing as they already got attached to her…

It would be best if she got attached to them, as well.

…

Returning back to home base, Hyness offered her best meal to the three children. Feasting on the good food, Hyness thought of the report she was about to make to the higher-ups. Adoption was one of the things she hadn't even considered before she found _them_, but now, faced with the option…

She would.

Filing the papers into a small shelf, Hyness slept off the worries as she woke up prepared for her next assignment… and hopefully her kids.

…

Arguing with higher-ups never had been Hyness's forte, but she managed. Pulling a lot of string along the way, she had managed to keep the children and not allow them to go into _the system._

She had a gut feeling, though…

"We would like you to help our allies, the Halcandrans, and bridge along our connections with the two species."

That task had been the gold she was looking for. It paid well, gave her an easy job, and a team-building exercise for her children. _Her_ children. It had been so easy to call them that, now.

Hyness smiled again. This was a mission that she'll take kids to. They definitely have to see this.

* * *

The sisters had grown up. Other than being slightly taller and much more mature, they hadn't changed much in fashion sense.

Hyness thought it would be nice to mention that they were taking a very important job from the government.

Francisca complimented her on the responsibility, as she always would. Zan Gartihan (Hyness seemed to always get her name wrong, to which Partizanne pestered her about and she apologized immediately after) gave a simple thumbs up before returning to what she would be doing.

Flamberge, however…

She had always been one to actually give her doubts. This time, it was no different. "This seems fishy. All we've been doing is the normal tasks, and yet here comes a high-profile mission out of nowhere?"

"It's an important job. I would gladly risk my life for the betterment of the two species. It's a must that peace and friendship be spread across the universe, you know?"

Flamberge stared at Hyness. "Well, whatever you say. I'll just be in my room."

"Ah. She has finally entered the teenage phase," Hyness nonchalantly commented. Flamberge turned red and stormed off grumbling. Hyness chuckled, before Francisca pouted yet again. "Ms. Hyness, can you not tease sister? I like a tease from you, too!"

Ah, this child demanded a tease.

"You're so cute, Fran!" Hyness ruffled the girl's hair.

Francisca smiled. "Yay!"

Such was the innocence of a child. The knowledge of the world, spread so far and so high never reached these types of individuals, so much so that they become a sacred treasure.

Ah, the joys of life.

Hyness smiled again and enjoyed the moment. Little did she know that she soon would taste despair, too.

* * *

The Halcandrans' base was a magnificent beast on its own, as Hyness parked the ship right outside. She had expected warm welcomes.

Not a goddamn military squad. Especially a military squad aiming at her.

...Their paranoia was off the charts. "Er… hello?" she started. Soon, someone welcomed her. "Welcome to Halcandra. Please, follow me inside. I've been told you're bringing three children along with you?"

Boldly, Hyness answered back. "Yes. What's with the-"

The soldiers aimed their guns at Francisca, who came out from behind Hyness. Tensing up, the young girl hid behind her mother.

The spokesman talked for a few moments, before yelling "Stand down!" at his comrades. "Sorry for the tense situation. We've just got… justified paranoia, that's all."

"Right. Please come this way."

Hyness and the three children followed the spokesman past several guard checkpoints and metal detectors (at least, that's what the spokesman told them what it was) as the four women tensed at the atmosphere.

The spokesman talked some more, though it was an attempt at making small talk rather than an actual conversation. As they walked around, the spokesman walked into a dead end.

Frustrated, the spokesman was enraged. "Did they change the layout again!? This has been the eighth time-"

A deep breath was taken. "Right. We're going to the _other entrance_."

Grumbling, the spokesman stormed off, and the four followed without question. It was after they had passed the actual entrance and several more guard checkpoints did Hyness realise something.

They were in deep shit.

The last set of doors had opened, and inside was the king.

Unable to do anything, Hyness watched as the king smiled and laughed at the predicament.

"They actually did it! I can't believe it!" the man shouted, choking on his laughs all the while. The three behind Hyness were starting to get unnerved by the man as the king continued.

"You do know what position you're in, right? Please tell me your ruler has told you that much. There is no way they would send their best mage out into the wild like this."

"I was informed that this would be a negotiation for peace and an opportunity to bridge connections."

"Then you are a fool, for having believed your government so easily."

The next line came as a terrible blow.

"You _do _know that your king and I have declared war on each other, right?"

Hyness stood shocked as the king frowned. "No? What in the hell is that idiot thinking… Anyways, yeah. As per specified, we were to receive a special package of four sacrifices within the span of this month, otherwise we would launch our superior weapons against your world."

"No… no, I refuse to believe…"

Complete 180.

The king scoffed. "Believe what you want, but your king has played this on long enough."

This must be a joke. I had trust in my country…!

The king motioned to his guards. "Take the children away through the _portal_. Hold this woman in a cell. Immediately."

For the betterment of two species, they said. Lies. Hyness exploded in a fury, unleashing magic straight at the king. It killed him in one hit.

The guards shouted obscene words at her before shots were fired. The entire kingdom began in an uproar as they restrained Hyness physically, as to prevent her from casting such magic. She yelled and screamed at the top of her lungs as her children were taken from her.

Flamberge yelled at her, asking her to come back to them, as they were tossed in a portal.

True to the king's words, all four of them had been done over.

They were naught but pawns in a game. Rather, it was Hyness who was the pawn. Those _three_ simply got dragged along.

Enticed by the money, the sudden order and the satisfaction of being picked over all the others had led her to this trap.

Hyness choked out tears as the guards heartlessly pounded her until she could retain consciousness no longer, from blood loss and the mental pain. Regret consumed her.

The next she came to, she was locked in chains attached to the wall. Something cracked in her.

"C-curse you…" she muttered, unable to retaliate any further. She would fight. And fight. And fight.

For the sake of her children and herself.

* * *

Days passed. No food or water came. Sleep became hard, what's with the lack of warmth and what not. Some guards looked at her, and walked away. Some _other_ guards looked at her for way too long for it to be healthy anymore.

Her mental state had been broken. God truly hated her so. She cursed god. Cursed her planet. Cursed her government.

That was when an epiphany struck. A night of joy had returned.

"Interesting. You'll accept my offer."

Hyness croaked out bit by bit in this otherworldly scenario. "Of… course…. any… thing…"

And the cages burst, and the chains loosened, and hell smiled upon her so.

Her skin had turned purple, but that was fine.

It was all fine.

She looked around. Dead. Dead and dead and dead.

That was when rumors began to spread among the Halcrandrans that the 'Mad Witch' was about to get them. Most people laughed.

Others snickered at the thought.

And so Halcandra exploded, covered in red and ash, as Hyness stood on top of it all.

Termina chuckled. "Yes, yes. With time and effort, we will bring back salvation and glory."

Hyness laughed crazily and heartily amongst the flames she had caused. It was time to hunt. Her children must be in danger. In the portal. But first…

She must slaughter all of Halcandra. For Termina.

For Jamba.

For the Void.

A young Halcandran child crawled up to her, begging, begging and begging oh so hard for the witch not to kill her. And so she didn't. She didn't have enough _heart_ for that.

She did however smash the girl's hands, effectively making her one-handed, as Hyness slit up her eye and blasted open half of her body. Using recovery magic, she then healed the girl up, though only half of her remained now. Still in mortal shock, the girl could only squeak out small sounds as half of her mouth was gone.

Hyness cackled, cackled, and cackled in this bloodshed desert.

…

The portal had been her key. It was the key to victory. Back to her children.

So, she entered the portal. And promptly blew up the joint.

The portal rippled for a few seconds, but stayed stable as guards were taken out left right and centre. Hyness was mad, and it showed in her attacks.

As she stormed through the lab, magma crackled and flowed into the base. Avoiding those, she began her murder spree in the Halcandran base.

Searching for her kids in the meantime, she lobbed off a scientist's hand and shot a three-pointer using a head.

It had been fun, but now she needed to find her children. With resolve and a lot of self-control, she navigated the lab once more and searched for her children.

A room full of test tubes was discovered. Hyness bombarded the glass as fluid came out of the chambers containing her children. With a gasp, Hyness cradled her children as her humanity returned, even for just a moment.

Flamberge opened her eyes.

Hyness stared at the red-haired girl. "Hello. Mother is finally here."

The next moment brought pain. Pain. Pain. Pain.

"Who are you?"

Hyness's already small heart cracked. "Should I know you?" It was crushed. "Where am I?" Pulverized into atoms.

Hyness pulled herself together as she confronted her child. "I am Hyness. And I have just saved you from the monsters. I follow a god named Termina. We follow a religion of Jamba. Now. Will you follow me?"

The distrust was long gone. The name rang a bell, but it was too soft. All that remained was the subconscious trust between the both of them.

"Of course."

* * *

Passing through the portal, Hyness boarded her ship (which had been kindly locked up by the king) and set sail for a good destination.

Her home.

She was about to massacre everyone there, children included. Her species was scum. The Halcandrans were scum.

…

They say murder becomes a habit. The more you murder, the more you get addicted to it.

Soon, it just becomes 'murder'.

That was certainly true with Hyness, whose goals were now radically different from what she had in mind months ago.

Extermination of life. Life was too dangerous to be let alive.

With that ideology, you might say that Hyness will also kill her daughters one day.

Hyness did have that in plan. She planned to kill her daughters at the end of it all, along with herself. Finally, a happy ending.

But now… she had other things in mind. Like dropping a bomb right on a major city on her planet.

The plan worked quite well.

All in the name of Termina.

"Run! The Mad Witch- augggg-"

Someone yelled in pain as Hyness looked down upon it.

Without emotion, one slice was all it took for it to separate into two. It was too late for the crying world to repent.

Hyness had incited thousands of spells at her planet.

All that was left had been nothing but ash, ice and lightning. The power, too, will soon be her childrens'.

All it'll take is one little push.

* * *

Her children did not know that she went out to murder. Bringing a feast back home, she carried the food up to her spiral ship, where Flamberge patiently waited.

"You're back."

"Of course I am, ke. In the name of Termina, I present this." Hyness dumped the feast on a nearby table, it's smell attracting the two younger sisters to come out. Francisca and Partizanne ate and ate as Flamberge sighed and dug in herself.

The Mad Witch's face held no emotion. What was there was simply a blank slate.

All of them had lost their memory of meeting her. And she had no idea why. Those Halcandrans...

Nevertheless, she'll patch it up.

She'll patch it up.

_She patched it up._

And they start anew.

…

Night came and they went to sleep. Hyness prodded around a bit, fiddling and biting what's left of her purple fingers before going in the children's room.

Good. All of them were asleep. Preparing her good hand, she cast a spell right over Flamberge. With a flow of light, _fire_ became her affinity, and in exchange, Hyness lost that.

Turning to Francisca, Hyness did the same, losing water and ice.

Above Partizanne, she waved in circles until her light and light_ning_ was gone.

She still had other magic tricks in stock, after all, though she'll miss the flames she used to kill…

Ignore it.

Shaking and gripping her head, Hyness trembled as an intense surge of pain raced through her. After the episode, she calmed herself down, took deep breaths and went out.

Her lessons will start tomorrow.

* * *

There had been a moment when her sanity returned. Sweat dropped from her forehead as she went to the girl she forgot the name of. "Partizanne…"

"You actually got it right?"

The yellow-haired girl turned in surprise at the cultist leader.

Gripping her arm, Hyness begged this surprised child of hers. "Please, please please please stop me when I become crazy. When I become crazy, bad things happen. Bad things happened. The dark lord has brought me debt, debt debt debt debt-"

Zan Partizanne, unsure of how to respond to this, stepped away frantically, leaving a slowly crying Hyness behind.

* * *

The girls had become proficient enough in magic, years later. As a parent, Hyness was ecstatic. As a commander to Termina?

Three valuable assets.

She turned her eyes to the prophecy she had written down, as prescribed by Termina, in addition to the information she found out within her planet.

She needed to take down (or recruit) multiple people to and for the cause of Termina. A vague description was given, and yet…

Irrationality began to take over. Leaving it to that side of the head, she focused on the plan for tomorrow.

A barrage of hearts was to be spread across Dreamland, as a test of world invasion before unleashing it full-scale across the universe.

Termina had wanted her to do so, and so she did.

The old hag now had one last job. The resurrection of Termina. Using dark energy manipulated from everyone's hearts (plus Dark matter), she had been able to get the process underway in an albeit slow manner.

Luckily for her, Popstar in particular had especially great people for her plan. The many incidents on the planet had been a great source of energy, though she had to relocate to Ripple Star once because Dark Energy had been stronger there.

All in all, it was smooth sailing from then on. To her knowledge, the planet is behind on technology and pretty dumb, so their invasion should be able to take place relatively soon without trouble.

Closing off her spying device, she hummed to herself as Marx, the child of tricksters, strolled about.

She needed him to play a certain part, because of his involvement and his suggestion.

This "Kirby" will be eliminated and taken prisoner.

A flawless plan indeed.

* * *

On stage and ready on site, Hyness began her speech. It was rather short.

"For Termina! For Juh-" Hyness stumbled a bit before continuing. "Jamba! Kekekeke!"

Rather, it wasn't a speech at all. However, it did manage to bring some energy to her children.

Ready on their places, Hyness counted. That was when a sudden warning came from Francisca, who had been using the spying device.

"Uh, miss Hyness? There is a ship entering the star planet."

Hyness cocked her head. No matter. It's not important. "Ignore! Ignore ship and we'll be fine!"

"R-right away! Ignoring!" Francisca turned the other way and closed her eyes.

Flamberge facepalmed herself at the sight of this.

"We've managed to do it…! Now then your highness, time to activate it, and the recovery of our lord shall go unhindered," Zan Partizanne said, to the delight of Hyness.

Definitely a loyalist and a great asset to Jamba.

"Kekekeke. Let's do it then!" Hyness gave the go command as Flamberge lazily flipped the switch. In moments, black hearts; Jamba hearts, rather, came out and off into space.

Hyness cackled more. This had been the final price to pay. And the final debt she had.

Now, she'll get to enjoy her new family. From square one.

No, not from square one. They had made progress in those years after the events in the hellhole she was dropped in.

Halfway there, then. A rough estimate, but we're somewhere, at least.

_Yes_**,**

**Halfway there.**

* * *

AN: Well, there you have it.

This chapter gives us a look on what this fic's Hyness had been up to before Star Allies had happened.

With this, we can only advance. I wish you all luck and stay safe from the ongoing epidemic.

EveningEmerald: Despite most of my… questionable writing, I do at least _try_ to make a functional story close to canon. This is a fanfiction after all, hehe~ Nice to see people liking the story so far, I really like describing these types of events, especially after the part where nearly nothing happens.


	24. Chapter 18 - Falling, Falling

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 18 - Falling, **_**Falling**_

* * *

Beams of light hit the duo. Taranza had started the real fight, and Magolor Soul wasn't going to back down just yet at the sight of his friend going bonkers.

Kirby sucked in a nearby dark orb that Soul made and shot it off as a star.

Dodging the two wonderfully with a combination of string techniques, Taranza hopped everywhere just to avoid getting touched. The spider gallanty flipped mid-air as he turned and passed by the shots.

_Now's my chance!_

This actually caused a frame of vulnerability, which Magolor Soul abuses to its full potential. He fired off an extremely quick, small ball of shadow.

It grazed Taranza's face as the spider flopped to the ground and blasted another round of fire and light.

A burning hall was what they saw as strings caught on fire, heating up the battle considerably.

Taranza, now silent, had a dull look on his face as he fired even more attacks, spinning and swirling full of white, while Kirby intercepted it to rebound it back to Taranza. Dodging the rebound, Taranza stopped and shot off one last light ball before running out of there.

Not missing a beat, Magolor smashed the ball of light and flew after the spider. Kirby similarly chased after the two, now advancing to the main door.

Magolor fired _his_ attack, and that's where things got awry.

_Meta Knight_ blocked the attack as he used his golden sword to slash at Kirby, wings open and ready to dive.

A bit surprised at this change, Kirby staggered for a moment, which was what the knight needed to ready a blow to the child of the stars.

Unfortunately for Meta Knight, Magolor dove at the knight _first _and punched him so hard it caused the knight to fly straight into a wall and cause an indent on it.

Gathering themselves up, Magolor breathed an air of relief. Just as his guard dropped, _Kirby_ shot a star at the monster.

Kirby went in and sucked in the star, before firing it back, causing a round of tennis to appear between the two Kirbys.

Magolor, impatient, decided to add multiple projectiles to the mix. Kirby sucked them all in, keeping his attack warm, and shot off a giant star at the impostor.

_Kirby_ widened his eyes, before diving out of the way and up comes Susie with a gun ready to blast some heads off.

Kirby flinched again, before looking at Magolor Soul to finish this one off. Nodding, Magolor cast a black hole right at Susie, for a split second-

It consumed a large portion of the wall, the floor, the ceiling, and everything else before leaving nothing…

And that's where Marx delivers a black hole of his own.

Magolor widened his eyes, not ready, as he got sucked into another dimension, pulled here and there in an obstinate amount of ways, before being spouted out of the space with a sickening boom, launched halfway across Dreamland.

Kirby, sweating, engaged in battle with 'Marx' for a second time.

Marx teleported here and there, with a familiar menacing laugh as he swept over to the sides of the hall and blasted Kirby with thunderous arrows.

Knowing the attack, Kirby jumped up precariously and sucked in the remains of the attack, flinging them back to Marx, who had expected the attack, and rolled over to _King Dedede,_ sucking the attack back in and out as fast as possible.

Kirbu dodged the incoming star as the king hammered his way across the hall, dripping with energy. Biting a star left by the hasty attack, Kirby spat out multiple stars as the king widened his eyes and switched back to Marx, laser beaming Kirby by a fraction off his foot.

Hissing off the pain, Kirby charged the cackling jester and dove right in for a high kick, before swallowing a nearby piece of rock and became Rock Kirby, flying off into the air to pound Marx.

Marx, who worried about the form change, changed himself into Queen Sectonia.

Shocked, Kirby stopped mid-air and spat out his rock power-up, inhaling it and firing it as ammo to the queen.

With a replica staff, Sectonia blasted the star to atoms as Kirby inhaled even more of the scattered debris and started a hail of stars onto the unprepared queen.

Tanking the damage, Sectonia slammed her staff to the ground, effectively breaking the floor and leading Kirby down as the puffball fell to a precarious position; a giant, rose red crystal, with even more crystals surrounding the pink ball as Sectonia swung out her two rapiers and started a bombard Kirby with deadly pokes from the weapon.

A black ball of shadow magic soon hit her dead in the face, though. Magolor came rushing from a direction, flying with his power as he came back in his normal self, his soul tuckered out.

Kirby, greeting the magician, grabbed what the magician had procured.

The Miracle Berry. The berries had been particularly useful back then, as will it now.

Magolor bowed, as he put on a chef hat he prepared from his cloak. "Sir, we have for you a delicious and mouth-watering berry. Please enjoy the gourmet taste."

"Oh please, I'm not a taste tester. Leave that to Dedede! I just like _cake_, but this berry'll do fine!" Kirby joked.

Magolor raised his eye at Kirby, usually not the one to make such jokes. Appreciating the thought, he blocked an incoming attack and resumed their conversation.

"Where'd you-" Kirby dashed left to avoid a red crustal from spiking him, "find this?"

"You know, just _oh screw off_-"

Magolor danced, as he barraged the queen with flying black orbs, going right up to her face and gave her a quick explosion right up there.

"The, _ugh_, the Dreamstalk!" Magolor answered, taking a hit he missed while avoiding the rapier hits.

With his cloak slightly torn and blood leaking out, Magolor shot a pleading look at Kirby. "I'd really appreciate it if you can do your thing!?"

"Yup!" Kirby consumed the berry as a reminiscent feeling washed over him, with the confidence, the _euphoria,_ as things calmed down and sped up all at once.

Kirby opened his mouth, and began to inhale everything. Magolor, surprised, dove out of the way as the suction became stronger and stronger, turning the attacking Queen Sectonia to running for her life. Diving out of the line of fire by transforming into Kirby himself, a counter-suction began, as a battle of winds commenced in the hall.

Kirby didn't lose to this unpowered version, however, as he had the advantage of the Miracle Berry. Outplayed, _Kirby_ got sucked in to Kirby's force, his shining and shimmering body decreasing in size as he stopped inhaling. Rather, he started choking.

Choking and coughing, Magolor went to see what's up as he patted the puffball on the back before Kirby launched a dark coalesced amount of Jamba Hearts, shaped in a ball, right to the ground, cracking the crystal.

Magolor shot off a good amount of attacks to hinder this new enemy, and caught off guard from the disorienting experience, the creature took all of the hits and collapsed. Magolor, not letting this one go free, shot off another set of attacks before being stopped by a wall of flames.

Flamberge, coming out from behind them, stepped in the fight as she protected the dark mass up close. "Don't interfere!" she scowled, as she held her flamethrower. "Now, tell me where's Francisca before I burn you all into a crisp."

"Why should I?" Magolor taunted. "We are not in a position to be threatened. Rather, we should threaten you," the magician gave a short laugh.

He stopped. "Release the Jamba mess and walk free from that hellhole and we'll all be fine."

"No! Absolutely not! Hyness was the one who gave new life to us. As repayment, we serve her! Now, give me Francisca!"

Another battle was started in the hall; rather the cracked and half-broken crystal, still present after the Sectonia fight.

* * *

Taranza wiggled as he stared at the walls and Hyness herself.

The rope was tight, even tighter than what his strings would be, as the cultist cackled and scowled at the sight of struggle. "Aaah, I must congratulate Termina. HAH! Our dark lord… has received our love! Love, kekekeke!"

Hyness raised her hands up in the air, her head backwards.

"Now, I leave. Jambuhbye. Ke!"

Hyness stumbled out of the room, leaving Taranza to wallow at his situation. To think that they would infiltrate the castle and kidnap _him_ was unthinkable.

...

The night was fresh, especially for the sleeping Taranza, with his window open for the cold, cold air to seep in.

A yellow beret came into the room, thrown by a yellow-haired Partizanne as the mage crept up the sills.

"Good. WHAT A GREAT SITUATION!" She flipped, from calm to ecstatic. This, however, caused her target to wake up.

"Wha?"

"Ah, you. Lovely~"

Zan Partizanne smashed Taranza's head with her fist as the spider was knocked out, unconscious.

"Lord Hyness was right. He really was a glass cannon. AMAZING! O-oh, how I weep…" the girl cried, as she unceremoniously dumped Taranza in a bag.

Carrying the poor arachnid off into the night, another came into the room. A black mass stepped in, as it took shape into a familiar spider.

…

_That_ happened. He was knocked out. And now he was stuck. "Pah," he scowled.

Unfortunately for them, they just didn't know where spiders get their web from.

It's going to get messy. Taranza secreted some poison into his webs as he shot out some, covering his bindings in corrosive chemicals, leaving himself free and released.

"Hah! Fools!" he got cocky as he laughed. Taranza looked a bit ill, however, looking back at his escape. "Really don't like using _that_, poison never kept me going after _that_ incident…"

It was an incident that Taranza would never tell for the rest of his life.

Shutting himself up after the small victory, Taranza decided that he would exfiltrate himself.

They made the wrong choice when they decided to remove the _only_ guard standing post by his bindings. _What an idiot!_

* * *

Kirby danced around the heat and flame as he and Magolor burst out their attacks occasionally, sometimes nailing their opponent and other times missing _way off_ their target.

"Hah...hah…" Flamberge panted, tiredness starting to take a toll on the fire mage. Kirby was profusely down on the ground as well, tired, along with Magolor, who was sitting down.

Flamberge fired a cheap shot at them both, before Magolor shot an attack of his own and clashed against the fire. "Can we try something… hah…. else?"

"Can't think of anything, here. She's good…" Kirby admitted. "Great," Magolor groaned, as he timely blocked another cheap shot from Flamberge.

"At this point… it's just a match to see who collapses first, huh…"

Flamberge scowled, before slightly wobbling and got up. "You all tell me where Francisca is… kidnappers…"

"Kidnap?" Kirby questioned.

"KIDNAPPED!" Flamberge went off again, blasting out her flamethrower at Kirby. "Nope!" Magolor sucked all that in a small black hole, before collapsing in exhaustion.

"Ah, he's out…" Kirby realised, murmuring, as he turned his attention back at Flamberge.

"We didn't kidnap… her. She wanted to help, _help me._"

"...help you? Don't screw around with me! I know you, you all did this to stop Lord Hyness' plans to revive the Dark Lord…"

"She's, agh, in the castle, she got knocked out, by the black entity…"

"...Dark Matter's spawn? But why…" Flamberge worried, before leaving. one last message as she stumbled out the hall.

"Don't get me wrong. I will pummel all of you down. But my sister's safety comes first. First… I-"

Flamberge promptly fell to the hard, cold, cracked ground the floating crystal offered as she went unconscious.

"Ah…" Kirby smiled, before thinking about the sisters. _Finally, some heart after all…_

Kirby went to sleep at the floating crystal, surrounded by gentle winds and the cold, cold air.

…

Underneath a bed, Francisca awoke in a start, bangung her head against the underside of the bed and crying in pain at the sensation.

"Kirb- Kirb_y_? Where did you go…?"

Crawling out of the underside, she soon saw a dreadful sight. A limp, black mass. Dead. Frozen in fear, she mumbled to herself. "Why… why is this here? I thought… _this wasn't part of Miss Hyness' plan…?_"

Those black blobs shouldn't be here. Flamberge has said so herself; if she saw one, _run_.

Could it be that those hearts she and her sisters (and Marx) collected were… causing the problem? They were black, the same black, but Miss Hyness told her it was for love, because it was a heart. It made things lovely…?

Confused and addled by the fact, Francisca watched the courtyard thrown into a massacre as Mister King Dedede and Miss Susie protected the castle. They were in a battle, a battle fiercer than any warrior could participate in, along with a swarm of Waddle Dees poking the blobs with oversized pointy sticks.

Shaking off the confusion, Francisca decided that a talk would be best. Stumbling her way out of the door, she walked down the flight of stairs and approached the door to the courtyard, before finding it flung open by a mass of black goop.

In fear, she pierced the creature with ice and pushed it away with water, the monster flying away and crashing into more of their kin before standing up like nothing happened and kept on walking to her.

King Dedede soon came flying in, wielding a hammer, and smacked the goop away, throwing one the Dees nearby to try and land a spike on its side.

Understandably, the Dee missed their throw, but she clapped anyway. King Dedede noticed her standing around. "Hey, Franc'scah, I thin' ya' name was? Mind helpin' us throwin' these guys around?"

"Oh, of course! It would be a delight, Mister King Dedede."

"Oh, shucks. D-drop the king…" Dedede laughed, before getting hit.

Susie rammed straight to Dedede. "What in the hell are you doing!? Are you blind in the eye or not? Mind you, we're currently having a war here!"

"Aight, aight, woman, yikes… can't ever gimme a brea', I swea'..."

Dedede managed a quick "See ya!" to the blue haired mage before Susie uppercutted the King's beak.

Maybe she should leave them be for a minute…

"Oh dear, I leave the country and aye, be it up in flames…" Francisca jumped at the sound, turning around quite fast. Behind her was Daroach, off his ship for once and wielding a cutlass.

"Ta' tell ya the truth, I'm not exactly a killer, but I try."

Daroach then charged into battle, with a "See ya, lady!" mixed in there. When Francisca thought it was done, a massive crew of pirates stormed after their captain in mixed reaction, some cheering and others weeping at joining this mess.

Meta Knight landed on the field, as Galacta Knight supported him from above. "Make it a competition, lad, we don't got time!"

"Ha! And to think you knew swordplay?"

The two battle-hungry warriors rushed into battle, as Francisca watched it all, her confusion increasing every minute.

"...I really should go see Miss Hyness, she ought to have something… Need to find Kirb."

Francisca stopped herself, before drawing out a long "E..." to the end of her last sentence, and rushing off to the skies to find either the pink hero or her mother, whoever is first…

Maybe the smoke in the distance'll help.

* * *

Flamberge stood slowly as her head wracked in pain and the surrounding looking a bit too fragile for her tastes. That crystal really handled the beating oh so well…

Spying on her enemies(…?), she confirmed that both of them are still asleep or unconscious. That's good. Flamberge sighed to herself as she started to try and finish the job. "Flamberge!"

She turned to the source of the yell. It was none other than her beloved sister, Francisca. Surprised, she went and hugged her sister. "Ah, where have you been? I was searching for you, you know!?" she nagged angrily.

"Oh, I got caught up between a group of friends," her sister replied. "Friends…?" Flamberge cocked her head.

"Yup! Turns out Kirby is a really nice gal! I had sooo much fun last night, you won't believe it! We played this and that…"

Flamberge chuckled. To think that her sister was in good hands after all, even if they oppose Hyness' plans…

"For once, I'll make an exception…" she sighed.

Flamberge lets them both go. It was courtesy, to repay what they've treated her sister to. Mid-tangent as Francisca talked about this and that, Flamberge stopped Francisca before she got too far. "Okay, okay. Calm down, yeah? Let's hear all this later…"

"Mmhm!" Francisca nodded. "I have to tend to these two… they are your friends, yes?"

Finally noticing the two beat up bodies, Francisca gasped and helped Kirby stand back up, though the puffball slept in delight as he slumped back down.

Francisca started to cry. "Sister, I think _she's…_ she's…"

"Ah, calm down! I swear I didn't harm them too bad!"

"You did this!?"

A back and forth ensued, with Flamberge arguing that they'll manage and Francisca, enraged that her sister harmed the two berating in anger. Such were sibling troubles, another day to add in daily life.

"Ugg…" Magolor stirred, as he started to push himself up, looking at the two mages. Flamberge began to reassure him. "Sorry about that, but I just had to confirm, _okay yeah maybe I went too far, but_-"

Francisca complained. "That isn't sincere!" she pouted. "I did the best I could, what do you mean!?"

Magolor decided that he didn't have time for this and went straight back to the land of dreams.

…

The mass of creatures ended after the last few hours of daylight, King Dedede exhausted beyond belief. It was lucky that Meta Knight had called for backup, not that he'd expect a gang of pirates, who lived in a ship right next door.

Then again, there were _three_ ships now parked right beside the castle; this might get weird soon enough.

Ignoring it, he tiredly went back to his room after a long day of shouting and getting shouted at and hit by Susie.

The king yawned as he opened the doors to the royal bedroom.

Not dealing with any of this anymore, the king slept soundly that night, though he thought that he would have nightmares from all the creatures.

…

In another room, Francisca and Flamberge were talking and listening respectively as Kirby and Magolor lay asleep on the comfy beds. "So then I approached them and they were all like…"

Francisca's story certainly held an impression. After listening to it, she nodded, and Francisca would continue.

However, this time…

"Sister, I've got a slightly bad question to ask…"

"Well, ask away," said the older sister.

"Can we, uh, _trust_ Miss Hyness? You need, from all of Kirby's stories, she kind of stopped everyone from conquering the world and what not; yeah…"

Francisca cut off there, as Flamberge realised the implications. Their loyalty… was it true loyalty?

They've been following Hyness for blind since that day in the volcano laboratory, and she's treated them oh so well the past years.

But now…

Her motives were questionable, her actions erratic, and her thoughts jumbled, praising the Dark Lord and the collection of the hearts…

No, no. She mustn't question it. It's impolite.

"Francisca, listen to me."

"Yes?"

Flamberge took a deep breath. "We'll find answers, alright? Back in base. We'll find answers."

Francisca went closer to her sister. "Okay."

* * *

Taranza was in deep hell. Nevermind hell; oh, no, he was in deep hell. Being at the core of the enemy base spells death, one way or another.

This was truly a bad situation. An overreaction must occur.

And so he overreacted. Getting it out of his system in bits of laughter and giggles, Taranza blasted his way through with his soul form. The moth kept on blowing up each and every door she came across, with the logic that he'll eventually find the exit. It's like those sayings in a maze; stick to the left wall and it's a piece of cake, or something like that. Who knows, Queen Se- er, Secty told _that_ story.

So he did what he did and went off, following the left wall earnestly, sometimes going into rooms he was _definitely_ not supposed to be in...

Who knew this place had a lot of empty rooms and extremely long hallways? The longer it took to travel across the corridors, the more horrid the experience. Bored, Taranza decided from that floor onward that he'll blast the floor if he has to. Grumbling at the long and winding pathways, he walked around some more, before his soul had _had_ it.

_I say we just blow the floor open._

"Oi, we're here to get out, and _not_ cause property damage. We might be in trouble, but this is not an emergency," Taranza spoke, sounding like a crazy person talking to thin air.

_Screw it! Here, gimme gimme…_

"Eh? Wait, wha-"

Taranza felt the world disconnect from all around him. No sensation.

No _touch_ from the air, no _smell_ from the machinery, no _sight_ to see, no _sound_ to hear, no….

There was black. That was when he crashed in this deep black void.

Soul cracked a knuckle. "Ah, might've caused permanent brain damage, then again, he really wouldn't let go…"

Soul Taranza chuckled at themselves as they made the slightly pessimistic joke.

Lightly banging Taranza's head to the nearest wall, Soul let out a chipper laugh before creating such a blindingly white orb that the area was covered in a bright light all the way to the next day.

…

An explosion rang out from who knows where, followed by multiple others. That certainly woke Kirby up in a state of shock, as he looked at his surroundings, panicking, before recognising the room and looked out the window.

The dead of the night. Right…

That fight certainly was tiring. That monstrosity had taken a lot out of him…

Mentally, Kirby hoped that Hyness wouldn't be as difficult to deal with as that black mass.

Sighing, Kirby went back to sleep. He needed to rest, after all. Their fights were not done. Not done… just yet.

* * *

The room with the Heart, the antechamber, had always been such a _love_ly place…

_and yet _

Hyness threw himself in the ground at such an honest failure. He had thrown all of his shadow aspect on to that…! All of it, all 100%! And it still… it _still_…!

"Ahaha! Why! Why this difficult really!? Keke… Such a wise method of fighting…"

Truth be told, Hyness was drained. Out of the magic she has mastered left, it was those so incompetent to even use to serve the dark lord!

What was light magic going to have to do!?

Hyness rambled on and on, a head nod here, a wild shake there, a near full 180 just a minute later…

Her sanity was driven to insanity once, and this was the breaking point for her _insanity._ This was time to enter the second state. In-insanity.

Or maybe just plain nuts.

Hyness cackled in chortled laughter as she furiously scratched her hood.

These actions, of course, were noticed by Zan Partizanne, who walked in on her.

"Lord Hyness, are you okay!? I really am not, but are you?"

"Ah, ah, the joys of love. The pain of _LOVE!_ Ah, such is the Jamba Heart, the deep, deep sorrow…" Hyness slowly laid lower, and lower, and lower, as she eventually fell onto the ground. "I may be dead by the next few days."

This confession brought no expression to Zan Partizanne. As loyal as she is, professionalism needed to be kept.

"Akh, Can Pou- Er? I… your name…."

Hyness mumbled this as she scratched her head to the point where they just started tearing, even past the hood, and into her skin.

"I, can't remember…" Hyness slowly spoke, aa if holding back tears.

"Uwah! Such love is lost? But… what love had been lost…?"

Zan Partizanne once again held no emotion, though her facade was breaking quick.

Hyness stared at her assistant, her yellow-haired assistant, as she tried to remember her name. "Ah, keke, I remember now. Your name is «●●●»!

It wouldn't come out.

It just wouldn't.

Why is it not coming out!?

"«●●●»."

"«●●●»," she repeated.

"«●●●»…?"

Hyness bolted out of the room as Zan Partizanne cried against the heart, her own begging for **love**.

* * *

_**Amorphost, Morphlike Entity**_

_Created from the deepest __**heart**_ _of Jambastion's own ruler, this creature was born from the affinity of __**shadow**_ _magic that Hyness had on her, the full dose._

_Made with vile intentions, this monstrosity seeks for a __**heart**__. It longs for a __**heart**__. And yet, it cannot find any hearts, any __**love**__. Thus, it tries other __**hearts**_ _for size, testing out their own capabilities, copying what already existed, because it cannot satisfy its own __**desire.**_

* * *

AN: Oh wow, another boss.

Yeah, this one wasn't in Star Allies, but I like throwing in these types of things _just because_. Not to mention, we've had these sorts of things sometime before.

This chapter really hits off the last one. Turns out Taranza isn't really Taranza, and that Taranza was just chilling in a cell room somewhere. He's vibing the floor, now.

Also, _action!_ Thank god, I needed another fight sequence. This one lasts… somewhat longer, yes? Trust me, I can and I will make the boss fights terrible if I don't hold myself back and say it's _for the good of the story_. Like damn, I pictured a good fight and it only lasts 500 words? Hm.

...This far in and I just noticed that my underlines don't load into FFN. Thank god I use bold like a sensible person. Now, time to see if special characters load in…

Thanks for reading this chapter, and I suppose I'll see you all in the next one.


	25. Chapter 19 - Red Roses

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 19 - Red Roses**

* * *

The next day came, and it wasn't a hellhole. At least, not yet. Kirby stepped out of his bed, in hopes of completely decimating the bastion Hyness had set up. Now, though…

"Absolutely not!" Flamberge yelled. She did not approve of their plan to basically nuke Jambaation. "Lord Hyness worked tirelessly for their goal, and you will simply not ruin it this instant!"

"But, Flamberge…" Francisca pouted at her, as her sister made a face at the tone, "Miss Hyness is…"

Francisca stopped herself right there. Mainly due to the fact that she also did not know what to think of the situation.

Kirby shook his head. "In any other case, I would let this go. However, your group kinda, you know, made an enemy of Dreamland, as per King Dedede's rules. We had to set that _one_ up after the _last_ time someone tried to invade our world…"

...

Susie, who was nearby and talking to King Dedede as they paced around, sneezed.

"Eh? You sneezed. You go' a cold or somethin'?"

Susie fired back. With her laser gun.

King Dedede, already ducking as Susie pulled out her weapon, the laser burning his hat, sighed. "We really ought to have better communications, you know, as _business_ pa'tne's."

Susie calmed down. "Yes, yes, alright…"

…

Kirby walked around the hallways, after leaving the argument, no sister following him. He needed a proper break the next time… the last one was not enough, and there was too much bad room service.

Sighing, Kirby headed out of the castle. "Time to get to work," he murmured, as the puffball floated and flew up to the hovering castle way up in the sky, damaged and smoking.

Landing pretty smooth, Kirby saw Magolor, who was already at it, disembarking to the main hallway they once fought whatever the black mass was. Kirby had the nerve to call it Dark Matter, but it was too small for it to be Dark Matter itself. Maybe… a child of Dark Matter, like Gooey? As Kirby thought of the creature, Magolor floated over, past the overly large hole they had made yesterday.

"Ah, the door. Now…" Magolor readied a black hole. "I don't think this door will withstand this one." With some unnecessary flair, he fired the physics-breaking attack; nearly collapsing from the sheer power lost to the attack and the amount of energy and focus it required of it.

The ball enlarged, sucking away the door, as matter itself disintegrated into the hole, never to be seen again. Magolor closed the hole immediately after he was done eroding nearly all of the door, minus some parts that a sphere couldn't reach.

It was a nice door. It was terribly thick, too massive for Kirby's liking, but he had to admit that the design was pretty cool.

"Nice! Now, let's head on in-" he panned to Magolor, who had already hit the hay not four hours after his awakening. "Ah."

This may be a problem. Oh well. Kirby head right on in, shrugging off the fact that he might not have backup with him as he strode into the barely lit room.

Inside the room was… nothing. Nothing was visible enough that Kirby could see it clearly. Except… for one thing.

A massive heart had placed itself right in the center, just a few strides away from where the door was.

Like a priceless artifact, the heart was put on display for all those who came to see it quite clearly even when first entering the room.

Somehow, Kirby had felt a certain… kinship upon placing his eyes on the heart. There had been some sort of feeling, some sort of presence that he could not shake off, as he neared the heart to investigate.

The feeling became stronger, as if the heart was emanating it, and Kirby walked forward even more.

He had been so close to the heart that he could hear the small thumps beat soundly against his ears, as a cold chill rose upon his back.

He just had a feeling that this was a part of his family. Just like Meta Knight, the connection of _feeling _was strikingly close to when he had first met with the knight all so long ago, when the king had stolen all the food for himself.

Simple times.

This chill… this feeling... why does it sound, so hollow? It was so hollow… So _empty_. The _void_ of emotion was what he was feeling here; he had no doubt about it.

Backing away slightly, Kirby stared at the heart, as the heart stared back. It was missing a piece, begging to be completed.

How… intimidating.

Kirby backed away even further, nearly exiting the room now, as he turned his back against the heart. A hand shot up.

Kirby gasped as his foot was gripped against his will, noting whoever was trying to bring him down.

A pathetic and frail old woman was there. She was the one holding the pink ball, and though Kirby may think she was out to get him, this woman hugged Kirby. Crying her lungs out, this emotional breakdown of a woman simply repeated one sentence over and over again. It was unnerving, _so wrong_ that Kirby flinched as he saw the overwhelming pain this woman beared.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry-"

The blindingly deaf woman had also made Kirby this much more confused and startled as she straightened herself. She then keeled back, her head glancing up to the ceiling.

"What is love? I had been searching for such love, I had given such love, but was I not loved back? My Lord Termina, please…" and the woman collapsed back down again raving and ranting about a name she could not remember.

It was pitifully sad to watch as Kirby slowly hobbled over to the woman, patting her shoulder. The woman looked up. "Hello, Hyness. I'm Kirby."

"I'm Hyness… but a question must be heard. Do you love me so? Love… the question for love, the act of love, the love I seek… do you have it?"

Unsure, Kirby could not give an answer to that immediately. However, he would always remain true to his beliefs. So, he said the best thing he had.

"I love all those around me, whether they return it or not. I love how Magolor had turned for the better, how Taranza helped us so much, how King Dedede is hardworking, how Marx had helped me in particular, Rick, Kine, and Coo for becoming my friends, and Adeleine for a smile she would always show when she'd be around me and Ribbon. I see good in you too, even though you captured me once… I'm glad to share my love for you, the love of knowing when to stop…"

"I see… thank you. Thank you. Thank you so, so much," Hyness wiped her tears for the first time since she had been crying after that night. "Zan Partizanne, I'm sorry…"

Hyness wept some more as she calmed under Kirby's presence, the puffball so soothing and comforting.

The scripture was wrong, the prophecy a lie, and the world an illusion as all of it shattered over a single night. The conversation with Zan Partizanne has rebuilt her into a better person. However, one last thing she needed to do…

"Kirby," she called out. "Yes?" answered the puffball. "I need you to destroy the heart. Quick. Before… before…"

Hyness stopped. Kirby looked down at her. Her gaze was transfixed in fear as a hand of shadow locked itself by her torso. She began to get pulled toward the Jamba Heart, Hyness struggling all the while.

The witch- no, Hyness chanted multiple lines of magic trying to harm the hands to no avail. The crack in the heart glowed ever so brighter. Hyness eventually gave up her attacks as she saw the end right behind her. As they got closer, Hyness started to hyperventilate at _that_ thought.

As the leader panicked, Kirby quickly dashed over and delivered a quick kick to the hand, expecting it to give way, much like Hyness. Instead, the hand shook and slapped the puffball away, as Hyness was brought closer and closer, released once from the grasp of the hand and taken back in once Kirby was out of the way.

Then… the hand pulled her in. It was a somewhat slow process, as Hyness gritted her teeth in pain.

"I'm sorry. This'll be our last meeting, I suppose. Argh-"

Hyness forced out a hand from the wells of the heart. Her hand.

Kirby, who saw the opportunity, clutched her hand like it was _his_ lifeline.

"My time had been fun. Sorry for kidnapping you. Please, tell the sisters… that I-"

"No! Not yet! I am not done with you just yet! Please, hold on…"

"I truly, truly do LOVE them!" Hyness yelled, as the cultist's head went into the wretched being, her hand slowly dissipating as Kirby fell to the ground, in fear, in pain, in confusion, and all the madness in the world.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Hyness was swallowed into the blackened heart, as the beating grew faster, stronger…

He had always saved everyone, didn't he?

Kirby had cried out as Hyness was absorbed into the heart. He felt a sense of despair, of loss of a person he only knew for a good ten minutes or so, but that wasn't about to bring him down. "Gah… I'll tell the sisters, Hyness… I can promise you that!" he yelled, as tears started coming down. An emotional ride had begun, as more shadowy hands started to appear.

No. No. NONONONONONO-

The tendrils snuck all around the dark room, as Kirby immediately ran for the door. Being close enough due to the fact that one the previous hand knocked him away from the heart, he took advantage of that and closed the door behind him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he came to check on Magolor, still sleeping on the cracked floor, with a somewhat giant moth looking down at him.

Suffering from what could become a stress disorder, Kirby breathed in and out as he tried to calm himself. Those breaths turned erratic the longer and longer he stood by that door.

Turned his eyes away from the main hallways, he cried as flaps surrounded him, burying him in this even deeper hole.

I've failed. That person could've lived. _Would_ have lived. Hyness might've lived…

An optimist could only go so far.

Dark thoughts surrounded him as a cloud of misdirection formed all around.

A voice snapped him out of it, as he jumped in fright.

"Oh, hello. I don't think we've met quite like this," the moth greeted. Kirby, still in shock from the events that had transpired inside the chamber, nodded. The moth gave a hearty laugh. "Well, I'm Taranza! Cool form, right? It's like I was born for this, or something!"

Kirby, giving no response, collapsed onto the floor. He was done. No more. He could take no more...

The moth scowled at that, mumbling about how it's 'twice the work now'. As the moth transformed into Taranza, Kirby closed his eyes, tired from emotional distress.

Hyness surrounded him in his dreams. He hadn't known the person for long, and yet when he saw Hynes being irrevocable eaten alive by the heart, he had a feeling of dread crawl up his back.

Hyness wasn't getting out of that.

* * *

Zan Partizanne kept looking around her room, and yet…

There was nothing left. Hyness had rejected her, her name thrown aside, her promise broken, her heart oh so torn.

Though she would be the one to move quickly from one emotion to another, this time was a time of sorrow, her heart filled to the brim with sweet despair.

She moped in her room, not knowing that the one who did her wrong was already dead.

She began to lie down on her lush bed, her partisan off to the side.

Now was the time to-

_CRASH_

Zan Partizanne jolted up from her comfy bed. Has something happened to the Jambastion?

Zan Partizanne slowly crept up to her door and unlocked it, peering out to the hallway. What she saw was a bright pink ball, being carried by a moth…?

It was a confusing creature, and one that Zan Partizanne wasn't sure if it's friendly or not.

In any case, this was a blatant intruder, and one that she needed to eliminate immediately. Going from the door to her partisan, she nabbed the handle and swung the door open in haste.

_THUMP_

This sound clearly bumped up the ante as she slowly approached the ever so slow moth.

_THUMP THUMP_

She readied her weapon, the lightning coming to her to her aid as she held it up to the sky.

_THUMP THUMP THUMP_

The moth has noticed her. She isn't in trouble, is she? Whatever will pan out next, she could not tell. As the lightning surged across the air, she swung down her weapon and herself as a beam of light came crashing through where her head had been just a moment before.

Yelling, Zan Partizanne gave in to fear and dashed back in her room.

_THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP_

Her fear was immeasurable. The fear crept up her skin like some slinky worm, all pricking against her back.

The door swung open. The next second, she was flung out of her bedroom's window as the lightning mage fell a hundred meters, two hundred meters…

She closed her eyes as her hand clasped her beret, keeping it from flying off.

She could not breathe. The air… gasping for air, Zan Partizanne opened her eyes to an extremely odd sight.

The Jambastion was flying away. It was flying away…?

Did Hyness not care anymore? After Francisca and Flamberge had gone, she was left by her lonesome, the only sister…

They might've been dead under the hands of the beings down below.

_And Hyness left her all the same…?_

Tears trickled out as this thought raced across her mind. She bawled, her tears floating, as she fell from outer space.

Beginning to lose consciousness from oxygen deprivation, Zan Partizanne closed her eyes one last time, without family or friends to soothe her… or so she thought.

She did not catch the fact that the moth, who was carrying two people, was not carrying three soon after.

* * *

Magolor awoke first, to a sight that would've caused panic in most people.

No ground below him. Widening his eyes and the sensation of being carried, Magolor looked up to see a giant moth carrying him and Kirby, along with a yellow-haired woman. "Aaaaah… Wait."

"Oh, you're awake?" said the moth, quite some distance from ground level. "Yeah, I am. I think I am, anyways…" Magolor muttered in response, still delirious.

"...I see. I'll land soon; you guys are too heavy!" the moth complained, as his wings flapped harder.

"So easy for you and your levitation! And here I am-"

Realization popped. "Wait, Taranza!?"

And came an attack to the moth in reflex.

The moth screeched as the attack connected, his grip releasing the three individuals. Magolor, of course, noticed the feeling of air rushing from below him, as he looked up to see a pained moth gliding down himself.

Quickly transforming into his soul form, Magolor flew over to Kirby and snagged the puffball by the foot, as Taranza held onto the yellow-haired girl.

"Dude, what the fuck!?"

"I panicked, okay! Last I saw you, you attacked me, and even though that wasn't you, how dare you act so nonchalantly!"

"I'm sorry?" the moth quipped sarcastically, as he gave a quick 'ha'.

"Well, if it's not about my friends, I don't get worried now do I? _Of course_ I am not worried, so why the hell did you blast me!?"

Not one person noticed that they were losing altitude fast while they bickered.

"I blasted you because you were an idiot!"

Taranza struck back. "How am I an idiot!?"

And then he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

"Oh, shitshit_shitshitshit-_"

His wings flapped hard as he tried to slow down their descent. Magolor, who wasn't quite worried about _his_ descent, simply slowed down his levitation.

The two bickered some more, but this time, it was friendlier as the two got back together.

"Ah, yeah, I'm sorry for that attack."

"You're sorry _now_?"

…

They both landed on the ground.

* * *

The castle soon became a paramedics bay. Housing three well-documented patients and one newcomer, the place was certainly getting crowded, what's with the stupendously large amount of Waddle Dees and the fact that they all had connections to one another.

Kine worried himself greatly seeing Kirby sleep. As Coo soothed him, Rick patted the fish's back as they looked on at their friend. Kirby's eyes were bloodshot, open, even, but it's as if his mind was in another state completely.

This vegetative state didn't dampen their mood much though; not as much as to what Taranza sighted as 'a whacking big castle floating off'.

Daroach immediately commented on that. "_That_ means they're running. Tucking their tails between their legs. Though I have to question their sanity in leaving _children_ behind like this…"

Francisca was on the verge of tears when Zan Partizanne came back, unconscious. Flamberge, who was in a similar state, helped to support the sister beside her, though she was failing spectacularly.

Both Magolor and Taranza were now awake, however, and they had a plan.

"We chase that thing. All the way," the spider smirkingly suggested.

King Dedede slammed him with his hammer after the suggestion, to the disappointment of Taranza.

* * *

"So. Your plan is to carry all the people you can with you to go to war. Great idea, bad execution. I'm out," King Dedede swore.

Susie punched the royalty. "Don't _always_ take the easy way out. Rule number 54 of business." She then proceeded to pull down a big book and whammed the king some more.

"Are you joking, lady!?" the king roared. "No," she replied.

Meta Knight was open to the idea. "If, we can board a vessel… we can eliminate the threat, good sir. Course I'm in."

Galacta Knight agreed to that. "To the end, brother! Our adventures had yet to fail!"

Taranza backed up a bit after that exchange.

The animal trio, on the other hand…

"I don't want any more trouble to befall me or my friends. Should we really chase _that thing_?" Coo questioned, as Kine nodded. Rick disagreed. "The sense of adventure! Oh, I'm on that ship right now-!"

"...What part of trouble do you not understand, Rick…"

"Trouble? All I see is fun."

Coo sighed. "That's the problem, see…" she stopped herself, before continuing in a forced manner. "Fine, we'll go too."

Rick bounced off in delight as Kine awkwardly laughed.

Magolor and Taranza wandered around some more, gathering thoughts from the rat pirates and then visited the mage sisters.

Beside them, was a despondent Kirby. "Hi…" he mouthed, as the sisters looked even more worried.

Francisca noticed the two standing in their doorway. "Oh, come in, come in… Kirby's just woken up."

Magolor and Taranza stepped in the room, observing the pink ball.

"See, Kirby just woke up, and she hasn't said a word…"

As Kirby's voice returned to him, he spoke a single word. "Hyness."

That definitely shocked the three sisters. Zan Partizanne grabbed Kirby. Following that, she asked the puffball a question. "What happened!? Please tell me."

"The heart, it absorbed her… Nothing left of her. She's dead."

And that was enough to send the room into a spiral of chaos.

…

"...and she wanted to tell me to tell _you_ that she loves you."

"And here I thought the woman was crazy," Taranza commented.

"She has been crazy, since some time ago…" Zan Partizanne admitted. Flamberge gave a fierce look into her sister, as she yelled, "And why haven't you been telling us this?"

Zan Partizanne continued. "I…"

At a loss of words, she took a breath, and exhaled. "I was too scared to tell you. Trust me, when Lord Hyness told me that… she'd…"

"I thought it had to be some kind of joke, you know? She wasn't the type to become crazy, according to how we first met her."

"And yet that happened," Francisca saddeningly added.

"But then… who's controlling the ship you gals were on?" Taranza queried. By now, realisation had dawned on Magolor. "It must be the heart. It knows something that we do not-!"

Magolor rushed over to the Lor as he panicked. If he was right…

Taranza, pretty confused at this, followed the magician. Leaving the sisters with a quick goodbye, Taranza headed for the infamous ship.

Entering the command room, he saw the floor, filled to the brim with papers and studies, with knowledge so brimming that he didn't even see Magolor as he entered the room.

The Halcandran was a mess, floating from here and there, mumbling to himself.

Taranza approached him. "Hey. What's going on?"

"I just realised what these events mean. You remember that time we talked about the Jamba Hearts?"

"...Yeah?"

"You see, they're tied to a legend. I was able to uncover that one, the last time we visited that volcano lab… the depictions were enough."

"What?"

"One dark, one light. One fallen, one in heaven. And the heart. Oh, it all makes sense now!"

"Wait, which depiction!? There were no depictions!"

"There was _one_, a singular _one_… Do you remember the hangar?"

"I do?"

"There was a hidden room there. On the side of the ship."

This got Taranza pretty confused. "Huh?"

"A hidden room. Not one planned in the blueprints. Trust me, I know my Halcandran ships well enough to recognise the same model ship, and that ship had a peculiar room on the side of it."

Taranza chuckled. "Uh, couldn't it have been any other old part of the ship?"

Magolor shook his head. "No, it's a hidden room. I'm sure of it."

"And my theory proved to be true."

Magolor pushed a button masquerading as a screw, as a click sounded throughout the entire ship. "What?" Taranza mumbled. Then, the rumble grew louder and louder….

A door had opened up by the entrance to the command room.

Taranza gulped. "Well, that was it. I looted that old ship while you all were relaxing here, and I found nothing. _Then _I looted my own hidden room and found _this_ thing," he nabbed a piece of paper from his desk.

Magolor closed the hidden door again.

"W-what is it, then, that got you so worried?" Taranza trembled.

"Listen to this," Magolor instructed.

"A child of dark. A child of light. A child of lies. A child of skies."

Magolor took a deep breath, and continued.

"A soul to seek, a journey to behold, not to stop the rampant sin, but to end the greater evil hidden within. Termina was their name, a great and old fool, who shall condemn all those who bargained with him so."

Another deep breath.

* * *

Reality shifted a tiny bit. Something stirred.

"Stop right there," Magolor…? sounded.

"Did you say something?" the spider asked. He looked at Magolor.

"I did not…?" he answered, as Magolor split in two. "...What?" he noticed.

"Well, it seems we've all met, yes?"

"Of course we've all met!" another spider proclaimed as they stood aside Taranza, gripping their hips.

"You're here?" Taranza commented, to which both souls respond to him, "We are always here."

Magolor distanced himself from his own soul, as Taranza's soul did the same, joining Magolor's counterpart.

"Well, we suppose…"

"...we're off to _space_, aren't we?"

The souls laughed, as they said those two things. "Aah, always wanted to do that," Magolor Soul remarked. "Same, same," Taranza Soul agreed.

Magolor Soul turned to them, as he nonchalantly smirked. "Well, because my Magolor there is the type who would go for theatrics, I'm just going to spoil it. You see, bring Kirby, Marx, together with you two to the fight against the big bad, and basically your job there is to band together and -"

A flurry of unrecognizable words flew out of the soul's mouth. He stopped, then chuckled. "Hm, so that's as far as the gods would let me go on for. Future events. Bah."

Taranza went wide-eyed. "You can predict the future?"

"No, silly! Haven't you known Magolor for quite some time now? He usually assumes things. It just so happens that his predictions actually line up with the truth, this time," his spider counterpart smiled.

"Ah. I see. Well- Leave it to us, then," Magolor reassures himself, as he raised a hand.

"Hah! Such a charmer. You're the type of person I like…"

Taranza looked in confusion before deciding to change the topic. "Say, how did you two appear here, and _now?_"

Taranza's soul looked at himself. Then, back up at the arachnid as they spoke. "We are not sure ourselves. Magolor overthere assumed we were pulled by some greater force."

"Greater force? What sort of fantasy is that, now? I know Termina claims to be in a prophecy, but come on-"

An orange butterfly enters the room. The ship's doors opened for him, as Magolor started to panic. "Lor.. why did you let him in…?"

**"This is not the souls' world, but real life in truth."**

The sentence rang in their heads, as this butterfly approached them.

**"Sadly, I am not here to seek you. I am here to seek the trickster. To offer him… a test of will."**

Magolor gaped at this. Taranza, not so caught up, warily spoke. "Why?"

**"To help, not hinder. To prevail in battle, not as a witness, but as a contender."**

And the butterfly flew through the solid walls of the Lor.

"...That's the first time Lor opened its doors without my prompt."

"You got a security breach, man," his soul snarked.

* * *

AN: Off we go.

Butterfly makes an appearance once again! Weird things kept happening. And the castle's inhabitants are off to help!

Well, this chapter took quite some time, but we did it. To the next one!

* * *

Mini Extra: The Painter

"Absolutely not."

Adeleine refused King Dedede's offer to help the folks in their plans.

"I am quite done with world saving after Ribbon's planet nearly got extinguished, and this is the last straw. I am off painting again."

"But… why?"

The king was moping at this point, trying his best to ask for Adeleine's help, even if she might not be so useful in the long run against Hyness.

"With due respect, king, you do not understand artists."

A massive blow against the king was dealt, as Adeleine raised her brush against the white canvas.


	26. Omake - OOOOOOOOOO

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 420 - Okay, One Of Our Own Obviously Operated on Outpost 'O'**

* * *

The drifting ship pierced through the sky. It was sailing quite fast, catching the winds as it glided through the air. It was shaped rather like a donut. Hyness had said it was one of the greatest shapes available for travel. They had been in there since an epidemic broke out from below the planet they were orbiting on.

In it, was a young team of entrepreneurs, who just had their UNO game from the citizens of Dreamland.

"Drats!" a cloaked woman yelled, having just dropped her cards.

"Ha! You aren't good at poker as well!"

"Don't get cocky this early in the game, Flamberge!"

They were having some fun, passing time before they had to go do their separate chores again. Maintaining a spaceship (or rather, any ship) was hard enough.

Hyness pushed all or her crackers on to the middle of the table (there were no chips in space, so they had to resort to desperate measures). Zan Partizanne laughed. "Ha! You cannot beat this trap card!" she pulled out her two set of cards.

"...That's way too early," Francisca grumbled. Her duo of cards weren't beating the rest any time soon. Betting the least amount each time, she had resorted to playing it safe.

"Fine, fine," Zan Partizanne mumbled in anger, closing back down her cards.

Check. Check. Check. Check.

"And I win!" Hyness proclaimed, showing the mages that indeed, Hyness had won (a full house on the river), as she celebrated in ecstasy.

Flamberge burned her cards the next moment. Hyness screeched at her as the two got into an argument about wasting resources.

Francisca sighed as she checked on their mysterious device.

She had gotten this particular device when nobody was looking in Dreamland. The device was a thin rock that had hinges on it as well as even more thin rocks inside. She had touched one of them and it had turned on all by itself. This… this had been magic!

So naturally she kept it a secret from others. The device, as it turns out, had been called a 'laptop' by one of the residents, so she started a new friendship with this 'laptop'.

"Aha, laptop! What will you show me today?"

The object did not respond.

"Ah, I see. Playing it quiet… I guess I'll just have to open you up and see. Letting out a small 'teehee', Francisca opened the laptop to another mysterious interface. She knew these, at least. It may be a bit primitive, though… To her knowledge, Hyness had once told her that old ships work this way!

With proper time to read and hear such tales about ancient techniques, she had the experience needed to operate the device wonderfully, though the hardware side of it took her multiple tries.

Her interest was definitely piqued when she opened up a logo with the symbol of an 'e'.

It opened up to a page of the net, where there were two buttons on the top right; login, and sign up. Luckily, she had found an account logged in, and so she checked on her fanfiction. It was steadily gaining views, as well as favorites and follows from her viewers, too.

Posting Kirby's adventures sure had been a challenging task for her to narrate, but part of it was the fun. She picked up the laptop and sat it down on her table, as she began typing away.

* * *

Somewhere out in the far reaches of the cosmos… was a signal, coming from a set of computers and other knickknacks.

A man in white clothing scrambled over to see what the screen above the machine displayed. "My god…" he ran out of the room, dashing over to his superiors.

Opening the door with such a force, he made his boss jump, as he squabbled his information out.

"W-we detected-d an inter-ternet signal!" he stuttered out. His boss laughed it off "Hah! As if! Now stop with these jokes, John or I'll have to contact NASA about your behaviour…"

"I'm serious, SIR!" His boss raised an eyebrow. He stepped out of his chair as John quivered under his gaze. "Humor me, then," he asked of the scientist, as they both walked into a room. John pointed towards the screen and his readings, and slowly but surely, his boss had his jaw wide open as they both gazed upon this unknown and potentially interesting phenomenon.

"Huh… well… I'll see that you'll get a promotion, John..." he commented, slowly muttering out those words. Suddenly, the screen glitched out, as a familiar symbol popped out, and a young lady stood in front of them, staring at them…

Her speech was garbled at best, perhaps another language, but the truth was now undeniable. There was someone watching out there.

Humans weren't the only intelligent beings who could utilize technology out there!

As the moment passed, the screen went black again, and that was the end of that.

"Say, John, did you record that?"

"N-no… but the building's t-tapes…"

His boss smirked. "Excellent. Ah, we're going to the big leagues now…"

* * *

Francisca tilted her head. She had just opened this weird app called 'Skype', and somehow, it connected her to some weird place. She was being so nice, too, mentioning hello and all that…

Francisca pouted as she closed the laptop. Those people were rude beyond belief.

Really, even Kirby was better than that! Well, Kirby was loads better but huh…

Francisca flopped back to her bed as she went to sleep. And yet… the urge to think overcame her.

And think she did. Of an adventure with Magolor, Taranza, and even Marx!

She simply couldn't sleep after that.

Opening the laptop once again, she began to type.

**"Star's Allies - Prologue - Horizon"**

Late into the night she went.

* * *

The government wasn't happy. They had said it was a mirage, a farce; and yet John had definitely seen it with his own two eyes. One day, he'll prove it. Swearing this, he turned around and walked across the lonely street.

* * *

AN: April Fools! Here's a fun small chapter while we wait for the real one. Don't worry, this chapter won't be gone when I post the real chapter; it'll simply be moved over by one chapter, so this is still available for everyone to see!


	27. Chapter 20 - Narrow Narratives

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 20 - Narrow Narratives**

* * *

A connection of half-baked individuals started their crusade to space. The supplies were being loaded, as Susie forced King Dedede to follow Magolor and his friends off to catch up with Jambastion.

Their launch date was tomorrow.

"Faster!" Susie yelled, as she pointed a finger to the direction of her ship. "Ain't this a bit too degradin'...?" the king complained.

"Hush."

"Ag, what a pain of a woman." Susie raised an eyebrow to that. "Say that again?"

"I said, you are one hell of a pain in the a-"

King Dedede ran for his life.

As the soft breeze of the wind glided down and onto the running fat penguin, a small orange butterfly could be seen phasing through Dedede's castle. Flapping its tiny wings, the butterfly nudged its way up the flights of stairs.

Phasing through a specific room, the butterfly began to glow as it approached its' final destination.

...

A bloodshot Kirby opened his eyes to the worry of the three mage sisters. Well, only Francisca was worrying about Kirby; Flamberge kept watch for Francisca's sake, and Zan Partizanne simply did not care at all.

"Ahhh…" Kirby stretched his arms, as he tried to ignore the dulling pain behind his head. "You're up!" Francisca quipped, as she checked on the puffball's condition. "You've been out for quite some time, Kir-_by_!"

"Hahah…. Yeah, I think so, too. Say, I'll just go back to sleep…" The puffball returned back to sleep as snores came out. Francisca pondered at this behaviour and decided that it was normal for people to do this. She herself had been a victim of exhaustion before, too.

Deciding to wander around the castle, she notified her two sisters (both gave a thumbs up in return), and off she went around the royal halls of Dedede Castle, armed with nothing but her magic.

The halls were enticing, and it never seemed to get old. The decorations were otherworldly to the mage trio, Francisca in particular seemingly attracted to the beautiful artworks hanging on the hallway.

It was now that she had a good appreciation of the artworks. Scrambling through the castle willy-nilly wasn't a great idea, and the beauty of finding new friends wore off quick.

Francisca hummed to herself a small tune that had originated from somewhere. She didn't know where from, but the tune had stuck to her brain ever since she heard it. Maybe it was from Hyness.

Oh. Hyness.

Francisca cracked a little inside. From what she could tell from a devastated Kirby, Hyness was _dead_.

That unnerved her. She had never seen death before. She had heard of it before, though. Such a topic wasn't up for discussion back at the bastion. It was usually a prayer to the dark lord, and that was it for her.

She never thought death was something so cruel.

The way Hyness had sweetened it, death had an embrace that the dark lord appreciated, but never wanted.

It was confusing at best; Francisca didn't get it one bit.

Slowing down, she crept up to a barely lit hallway as things went darker in her vision. It was becoming dusk.

The lovely orange and pink would soon dip down into black. Francisca glanced at a nearby window, as the light slowly dimmed. There it was, the setting sun. She watched, as it descended down, slowly ebbing, disappearing…

It was somber, as Francisca couldn't help but to feel an odd sense of sadness. Where had this come from…?

Her hand shot up as she wiped the tears dripping from her face. Clutching her hat, she took it off as she faced the nearly set sun.

"I'm sorry, Miss Hyness. We failed you. We weren't good enough…"

…

Sitting in silence, the girl with blue hair stood up, leaving her position nearby the window. Walking back to her room, she stumbled across the now dark hallways as the light of the moon soothingly pranced around her. The light of various rooms was off, now. It was nearly pitch black, but she had the moonlight to guide her. All she needed to do was to follow the moonlight.

Some sort of grunting was there. Francisca froze. She turned her head to the nearest door. It was spilling with light, as the grunting and grumbling soon turned into shrieks of pain. Squinting her eyes, she opened the door and as her eyes adjusted, she found herself at a twitching jester, his limbs moving in discordance, his eyes everywhere, and a heavy atmosphere; a great pressure; which knowingly impeded her.

Francisca shut the door with a screech and ran to report the findings to her sisters. Marx was their teammate, in the bastion as outside it, and she wasn't going to just let him twitch in pain. A true friend helps others in need.

* * *

Marx opened his eyes. It was black again.

"Nonononononononono-"

Heavy breathing. The rumbling...

The flaps of wind as he was falling, falling, _falling_, into the depths of the open wide maw of death.

"I had enough of this from last time… why now?"

No one responded. How foolish was he, to not know nor notice that there was nobody around?

Except there was. A piece of gear appeared from behind him, startling him through and through.

"No, stop! Get away!" the jester yelled. The gear dropped down, and the floor pierced and shattered, breaking as if it was glass. Marx fell again as he activated his wings. Gliding, he stopped short of the small, black island he fell into, surrounded by a sea of black.

The gear returned.

"_Get away!_"

In desperation, Marx flung himself into the sea. When he looked back, the island was gone.

Turning back forward, he saw a creature with those similar, _pleading_ eyes. Shouting a quick "NO!", Marx flew off into the sky. Reaching for the now broken floor turned ceiling, Marx hit an invisible wall as the jester floated down disgracefully, plummeting down even more as the environment changed once more. Now, a bright surface covered the entirety of the place. Marx noticed it was hot.

_Too hot._

Marx panicked as he pulled up, using all of his might to be rid of the melting ball of death. A curve of fire dangerously whipped past him, as he dove under it and over.

Yelling, Marx fluttered once more, before gravity decided that there would be no more flying. Pushing down on him, his wings failed as he fell into the hot pit of lava. Marx closed his eyes, hoping for the best.

"You really like to avoid me, don't you?"

Another Marx approached the Marx who was supposed to be dead.

"Hah. So it was your fault all along. _All right. Soul._"

Marx spat out the word like it was poison, as his soul sighed. "I didn't want this. My job was to guide you, but instead you continue in denial?"

Marx snapped, hearing this. "You DARE claim I am in denial!? I simply do not like you. You are the epitome of my ruined life. I do not care what happens to you, nor what will happen to you. _LEAVE ME ALONE, DAMMIT_!"

His soul, sitting down, content, began their proposal. "I'm here to help. Yet, you keep denying my help. So, here's my last attempt at giving you help."

"Go die."

"Very well then." The soul sighed. He turned around, and walked off to who-knows-where, gone in a black mist.

Marx calmed down. He started to gingerly walk around, trying to find his way out. It was a dream, so maybe willing himself awake is an option?

He tried that.

It didn't work.

Stuck in this black void. Marx sat down, tired of standing. It was an odd feeling, sitting on nothing.

Black simply covered everything that there was no telling of what was what and who was where.

Which is why Marx got cautious the moment he spotted a peculiar, indescribable being.

This odd creature began to descend upon him. With a sneering voice, the creature muttered out a word.

"Fool."

And the world crashed. And the world crashed. And the world crashed and broke and smashed and utterly utterly utterly utterly-

Marx ran as the world collapsed, his pace quickening at the sight of a monstrous glutton consuming the dark black void with overbearing light-

And the world became white.

Marx ran and ran, and yet the white still caught up. Speeding up , the white raced beyond Marx and off into the distance. Marx slowed down. He was on edge, on guard, and extremely paranoid, now.

There was a noise. He jumped. Turning to the source of the noise, his eyes glanced upon the weirdest of creatures. Some sort of four legged creature, surrounded by a pile of eggs was there. It seemed to be sleeping. Marx decided he wanted no part of that. Running in fear, he made a lot of noise, not thinking about the consequences that might just happen.

And happen it did, as the four legged creature awoke, chasing down Marx ferociously with glee. As the world turned once more, Marx shot a quick look behind him, to see that the creature had at least doubled in size.

"Shit!" he hollered, as the jester backed off, his wings outstretched as he gained lift.

The massive beast followed suit.

The flaps, the _drowning_ of noise, all around; Marx glided off to what seemed like a circular platform, above the black sea of mist.

Landing precariously, he checked on the beast's movements. With grace, Marx fired off a blue _cutter _projectile, narrowly missing its target as the monster dove underneath and right back on top, gaining speed.

The monster landed on the platform Marx made way for the being. It was a surreal sight, as Marx tried to calm himself down.

"Fool," the butterfly spoke. Marx scowled. "I am a fool, but screw you for doing this dream bullshit to me! It's already hella cliche-"

The butterfly shrank. From the wings, an entity came. "How interesting of you, then," the entity commented. The entity still floated, as its wings flapped.

It strode right up to Marx. "Let's have our conversation."

"I'm not here to hear your ramblings. I'm outta here!"

Marx dove for the being, intending to crush it, point-blank with a laser. Unfortunately, that did not come to pass. The being _slashed _at Marx, as the jester noticed this and turned his course by growing a plant right in front of him instead.

The entity, already aware, dodged the sprout. "I'm here to talk. Please do not resist."

Marx groaned. This person was good. "Fine, fine."

The entity sighed. "I am Morpho, one of the ancient gods."

_That_ caught him by surprise. "What the hell? Mate, are you off your rockers?"

"I assure you, I am not joking. When you have Termina as an acquaintance, shouldn't you already be partially immune to this response?"

"Who is Termina?" the jester genuinely asked. "Aaah. You're at that part. All right, Termina is a god of chaos, destruction; all the necessary things for free will."

All of a sudden, Marx _really_ didn't like this man.

"I am not necessarily his counterpart; that job falls to [●●●●●●●●●]; but I do rule the war aspect of the world. If you might, I am a mighty warrior."

"Okay, great. Can you leave me alone now?" the jester said, uninterested.

"Of course. But, you should know this," Morpho advised, before pulling out an absolutely massive sword. "I am to stand against you until I am merged with you."

"Ah. Okay."

Marx booked it, falling off the circular platform. Readying his laser, Marx turned himself, facing up to the Morpho in pursuit. Morpho got closer and closer….

And that's when he had his chance. He fired his shot, point-blank, and nailed it as Morpho moved away, the god's body breached by one massive hole right through the thing's abdomen.

Marx, tired from the shot, took some time in their skydiving, as he lay there open for an attack.

Morpho began to swing their oversized sword, missing the whole lot but cutting down whatever escape plan Marx could have from that moment in time, as the blade jutted out from one end to the other.

Cripes. This massive sword is going to hit him.

_"Fine then."_

Marx blinked, to see a facsimile of _himself_ holding down this gigantic and oversized sword, all with the power of a kick.

Coming in with mach speed, the facsimile blasted through the air, bursting into the fight. In sonic speed, the fake knocked the sword way off, as Morpho widened its eyes. It began to flap off and away.

"But why?" Marx questioned?

"Are you joking? I _just_ did a massive save for ya there and you're still doubting me?"

"No, nonono… Not-"

"I am YOU! Face it! Your soul is part of you! Why do you hate yourself so much, then!?"

Marx stood silent. "We both should know the answer to that," the soul bitterly spat out.

Kirby had given him a slight taste of that.

_Friendship_.

A tiny bit back in the past, and a lot more in the present.

He had missed this feeling…

"Do you understand, now? Please, I can't see myself in denial…"

"It's what Kirby showed us, right?"

Marx hoped this was the answer. _The_ answer.

No more running for him. His soul just berated him on this. He needed to face it; the past is the past.

"There you go. Finally, the idea back into the skull of yours…"

Soul sighed. Backing up, he nudged a ball towards Marx. "Heads up. It's going to be a rough fight."

"You don't say," Marx smirkingly responded.

"Hah! And to think you despised me so. Laughable, ain't it?"

"Not to that extent, no," Marx said.

"Oi!"

Morpho came rushing back, full speed, slicing through the ball. Unable to change his trajectory, Morpho scowled as he passed through. The device popped, and sent the two Marxes up in the air from the propulsion.

Morpho turned around, and complimented the duo. "Well done. You've managed to anger me."

The real fight started there. Morpho disappeared, and in his place was a spinning ball of orange as miniature butterflies came spiralling over to them in a flower pattern, should it be viewed from above.

Marx, pulling up an arrow to shoot the nearing butterflies, couldn't hold himself against the flanking ones.

That's where his soul came into rescue. Growing a full on garden right there, spiky thorns grew as more seeds were planted, all with a gorgeous rose.

Spiking through the ground, the terrifying plant burst out and pierced all those above it, as Marx Soul defended himself with a speedy and clean fight. Piercing arrows came and barraged in the same way the butterflies came to them, as the arrows sparked with lightning, connecting the electricity from the arrows across multiple creatures, jumping from butterfly to butterfly, frying them all.

Marx, on the other hand, wasn't looking too peachy. He was certainly drained from firing that point blank laser, and he wasn't having it tonight. Running through the flight of butterflies like a madman, Marx started his black hole. The intense gravity of it managed to suck in a lot of the critters, as Marx panted on the nonexistent floor.

His soul, seeing this, noted the exhaustion. "You know not to overwork yourself-"

"-and I still do it anyways! Ha!"

Marx, stumbling to his soul, grappled the floor as he took a small moment of rest.

A fatal moment, it was, as Morpho reformed and charged at the unprepared jester. Clambering on to stand, Marx struggled to run as he tried to make a run for it-

His soul, who had an arrow ready, pierced the god with the electrical projectile. Roaring, Morpho disappeared _again_ and out of nowhere, a gear fell from the ceiling. Or was it the sky…?

More gears began falling. Marx ducked under some incoming ones and weaved his way stylishly across the sudden battlefield.

His soul gracefully did the same, before getting hit by one. The pain from that gear managed to cause a minor concussion, which attracted the attention of Marx. Already struggling, he decided to hop over to his soul and help him avoid the falling metal.

Striking close to one of the falling gears, they both danced their way through as a ball of… something lay on the tippity top of the proper sky. Morpho was standing next to it, its wings outstretched as another giant sword appeared, though this one is more accurately named as a rapier.

The entity wielded these two massive weapons, ready to kill the two.

Knowing that he won't just give up here, Marx readied himself. He turned to his soul. His soul gave him a pat on the back, slurringly falling back down to the ground.

It was up to him now.

With newfound respect for his soul, he marched forward, leaving a circle of seeds behind, surrounding his soul, soon to be a cage of plants.

Nobody was going to touch _him_.

…

Turns out that the plants are resistant to swords. Huh.

To Marx's delight and surprise, the plants don't actually get cut from the swords. With courage, he started as his vigor was boosted.

He felt like his exhaustion was gone, his spirit uplifted, and himself feeling pretty all right.

Preparing a quick dash, Marx executed his plan. As Morpho crazily stabbed and slashed at the jester, who carefully bounced back and forth with his ball, he began to lure Morpho nearer to the plants.

If it was indestructible, he was going to abuse it as much as he wanted to.

Too bad Morpho caught on way too fast.

Marx dodged another swipe as the two played their games. Firing off a quick laser to halt the progress of one sword, pushing it back, he neared to Morpho and shot off a cutter projectile, slicing the god square in the face. As it dissipated, the energy started to shape in the air. In fact it seemed as if…

The energy is being sucked into Morpho. No doubt about it. It was as clear as day, as the lightshow turned swirly and topsy-turvy, all swept into Morpho.

_Seriously, how overpowered is this guy!?_ Marx thought, as he frantically avoided using any type of magical attacks. It seemed as if those would just provide his enemy with an advantage.

Physical attacks were the key, then.

Marx divekicked the god, sending Morpho a good kick before jumping away from the quick swing the rapier had just made, and kicked his ball at Morpho.

Another circling swing came from one of the rapiers. What? It shouldn't-

It has become a stage obstacle, spinning, keeping Marx on his toes.

Morpho still held one, as it noticeably shrunk down compared to the now absolutely massive spinning rapier that was nearly about to knock Marx down.

Marx scowled, jumped once, and began dovekicking again. This was simply too predictable, however, as Morpho parried each kick, dancing all the while. The only feasible way now for Marx to attack was to divekick, and this was something Morpho definitely knew.

Panting, Marx was put to the test as he struggled his best to avoid the spinning giant rapier and the jabs Morpho was making at him. As the jabbing rapier nicked his foot, Marx yelled in pain before sending his other foot to kick, intending to knock away the rapier.

As the kick came, the rapier was indeed knocked away. Surprised, Morpho left it alone and began attacking with magic, spitting out fire as the area burned.

It had, unfortunately, also burned the plant cage his soul was in. "No!"

Morpho flew straightaway to the cage, as it took back its two rapiers, reforming them from their hands, taking the two discarded ones out of reality.

"I could end this right now," Morpho commented.

"Please don't. I do believe he is innocent in all this," Marx pleaded.

"I will do so, then." Morpho turned back. The entity turned its back to the soul, as it flew towards Marx.

Marx thought it was alright to not act. He was torn. He _hesitated._

And Morpho turned back, with a blinding speed unlike mortals, stabbing Marx's soul straight through his bowtie. There was a yelp of pain, though it wasn't from the soul. The soul did not squeak even once.

As Morpho stabbed and stabbed and stabbed, showing no emotion as he did so, Marx felt a bit queasy.

Looking down, he noticed that he, too, had holes _everywhere_.

Pain kicked in. It was writhing; withering pain, as Marx lay on his own blood, killed through a connection from his soul.

For his strongest to become his weakness… how hilarious it was.

Marx cackled. Humorous, humourous indeed.

This is a false god. What sort of god would do this…?

"Ahh. You've failed the test, then. You are not worthy as my champion," Morpho casually blurted out, as if it was just another day. "You have too many doubts and too much power to control. Such is imbalance."

"A waste of my time. Now, death comes knocking. This is your price to pay."

Morpho turned back into a butterfly, as he left the dream-induced world, with a small flash. The two bodies of Marx lay there, as the plants burned and all that was left is the hell the fight had created.

All is silent.

* * *

Francisca shook Marx. He shook Marx again. But the jester never woke up. Instead, his breathing got slower, and slower, as the cries of pain and writhing stopped.

Francisca looked at this and thought it a job well done. Thinking that Marx had calmed down, she joyfully left the room. As time ticked, the carefree girl went back to her sisters, off to report and sleep through the night. Unbeknownst to her and unnoticed by everyone, a single orange butterfly left through the window, phasing through the solid glass as a murder was left in the wake of the chaos.

All there was is the dead, rotting body of Marx.

* * *

"..."

"And so you're here."

"...What?"

I blinked. I blinked again. There is an odd creature here. A ball, with elongated legs and stubby arms. It looked alien.

It shone a bright light, a million colours at once, as it kept talking.

"So you've finally accepted your own soul?" the mysterious creature asked.

Me, being done with it all, snapped. Wasn't ever the patient type. "What's your problem? Is this heaven? Or is this hell? I know for a fact that I just died. I saw myself getting fucked up, pierced through a god_damn_ crazy amount, and here you are asking some enigmatic questions? What the fuck!?"

I was pissed. The face this lady had was one of shock.

Good.

"Please, just wait."

"I got all the time in the world, lady. None of that is going to be spent on you. Send me to whatever afterlife you have. I'm _done_."

I even put some snark in there. "To answer your question, me and my soul are fine and dandy. Yup! I didn't _just get killed right now_, definitely. This is totally real. Oh, who am I kidding…"

I broke down. I was dead. I am dead. Why can't I just take a break? I didn't ask for this. I didn't want this. Why?

A pat was on my back. It was me.

My soul had come to comfort me. Why?

_Because we are together_, he said. Bullshit.

Another backstab.

_Because we are the one and the same_, he said.

Another planned manipulation.

Pah.

I rejected my soul's hand and off I was, running away from all those lunatics. There was a reason I wished.

I wished to be alone. But Kirby proved that wrong.

I wished to not be dead. But in turn, I got caught in all this mess.

Why does everything turn against me so?

A dark heart was to the left of me. Spooky.

Growing ever closer. Looming.

"Would you want to destroy the world?" it asked.

I certainly did wish for that, the only wish to Nova I did. Nova exploded after that.

It was a bad wish. So...

"No."

So quick, so brutal, so undeniable.

"What a pity."

Dark, dark scenes began showing up. Nova, exploding. Kirby, dead. Magolor, dead. Taranza, dead. Dedede, dead, Susie, dead. Rick, dead. Kine, dead. Coo, dead. Marx.

_Dead._

I stood above it all, as the remaining few alive stared at me in fear, in fright.

Daroach tried to pick a fight with me. I drowned him.

Meta Knight tried to slice me. I tore off his wings and crashed him.

Galacta tried to do the same. And I burned the angel at the stake.

The bodies keep on piling up.

As I looked on, me with this once familiar body, a monster showed up.

Me.

How odd I looked. It was off off off off off off off off-

This is reality, right? Right… this must be what happened.

I killed everyone.

A tap on my back. My caution is through the roof. As I fired an arrow to the tapping man, I looked as I saw myself, dead, an arrow stuck to my chest.

Fear.

"Stop this!" a holler came. What was that? Must be a bad dream. Ignoring it seemed best.

"Don't listen to _him_!" it screamt again. Ignoring it again. I must kill.

It was the only logical way.

Kill Morpho. As they say, an eye for an eye.

A death for another one.

As the images blurred and shattered, I regained my vision. My soul was battered up by the single arrow, as I felt the same pain. Gritting my teeth, I sucked up and watched as the same sentient glowing ball of… something fired at the dark heart.

The Jamba Heart broke into pieces, as the projectiles soon dissipated, too.

"In the name of Andromeda, your wish is granted!" With a swish, the creature turned to me. It was a beautiful one. One that actually looked like an angel. With a small hood and a design reminiscent of Magolor's robe, with some stars attached to it, it was not like Magolor, but instead the creature wearing it was like a fish, a creature barely gracing Kine's species. "Child of Tricksters, let us finally speak. Now that Termina's influence is rid of you, let us speak, heart to heart."

"My… wish?" I didn't care about any of the other hodgepodge. This lady just promised me something grand.

Killing Morpho. That was it…!

…

Marx smiled as he kept the plans to himself. "Finally, a person who I can trust. I accept."

This certain narrative was all he needed. Not a lie, not the truth, but something just in the middle.

A white lie. The blackened truth.

Silence rang across as the confirmation hung in the air.

He wasn't so sure anymore, after he said that. Not sure any longer. Something died inside me after that.

"A good choice."

The lady walked up to Marx, as the jester invitingly welcomed her.

* * *

_**Morpho, Deity of Challengers**_

_A peculiar deity, as it __**does not align**_ _itself with anybody, thus performing a __**chaotic neutral**_ _role in all this despite his oath. Providing challenges to the world to make it 'interesting', it has a knack for challenging strong mortals, who usually will give him a chance to __**prove their worth**_ _before deciding if they are worth it or not as a potential candidate._

_It hates both Andromeda, the Goddess of Will and Termina, the God of Chaos equally, both for various reasons._

* * *

AN: How odd. It took slightly bit longer than I thought.

Anyhoo, here's the newest chapter on Star's Allies. More extra lore, to fit the already going theme. Would be weird if there was only one supreme being (Termina). Where's the counterpart?

And so Andromeda came to fruition. Morpho, in all honesty, is a weird one. He appears mostly in beginning cutscenes, but I think he's an underdeveloped character. Sure, he fights you once, but then that's it. Where's the reason?

Filling this gap, I decided to add some parts to Morpho's character. Hope it feels well to read.

The reason Francisca doesn't recognise Marx as dead here is because she is too sheltered. Sure, she may know what the concept of death is, but she hasn't seen one firsthand, what the dead usually do, etc.

Also, Andromeda.

Anyways, off to the next one.

* * *

I mustn't allow this to happen. To think, that all the deities have fallen into such a manner of disarray.

I mustn't allow _my_ children to be corrupted.

...

Something shone in Marx's room.

The click-clacking, the tick-tocking. The light, breaching from the windows as it blasted the walls away. The explosion rang for miles.

With steps, the entity moved. Not so graceful, and yet so soft, compared to the explosion that just happened.

It approached Marx's body. A hand, over the jester.

"No more lies from you, Andromeda," it spoke.

Hands off. A sigh came.

"I'm free, then. After all this time."

It allowed itself to revel, to bask in the crisp air; for it was free.


	28. Chapter 21 - Tall Tales

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 21 - Tall Tales**

* * *

"H-he can't be _gone_."

"Sorry. 'eard it myself. The guy's ditched us. Shouldn' have trusted 'im, told ya so. A' least, tha's what I assume he would've done..."

Kirby stood there, reeling from shock and the emptiness in his heart.

First Hyness, now Marx? Why now? Why…

Why are all of them leaving so quick? There was no longer time to meet them...

...

Magolor walked into the room. "Last hour before we fly off! King Dedede is expected on board! Kirby, you too-"

"Oh."

Magolor wisely decided to leave with that note. They were ready to launch. Ignoring the, uh, breach yesterday, Magolor practically pounced at the controls once he made it inside.

All those who wanted in the chase were ready. The sisters, Susie, the Squeak Squad, Taranza…

...and the king and Kirby, though the latter might not be approachable for a while.

Magolor shook that off his mind as he started the engine, allowing the Lor to prepare itself before travelling off.

Got to give your ship some time as well, as per the manual. Not ever sure why that was there; Magolor thought it weird that you had to give time to the ship, _specifically_ worded that way.

He didn't pay it any mind though, and let the ship do its thing. While he waited, he watched the conditions of his passenger.

Notably, the king and Kirby, walking into the ship right now.

They were missing one… Marx.

Magolor didn't know the details; he slept through the whole thing; but apparently the lad had actually escaped from the castle, chickening out on the end.

Can't blame him for that. The journey will be harsh. But why was Kirby grieving over this? Did he trust Marx too much?

An oddity, this was.

* * *

The stench of death never left. Even as we boarded the Lor Starcutter, I couldn't bring myself to forget about that stench.

The smell of it…

Marx was dead, no doubt about it. Dedede's assumption was dead wrong. He was gone, the wall torn asunder by some mysterious attack. The stench permeated all over the room.

Even those inexperienced with death could tell the telltale signs of _death_.

Was this my punishment due to me not being able to help Hyness?

Was this karmic revenge? Or was this…

I can't get my mind off it. Dedede patted my back. He was always a comforter, a sympathizer. A good king, he is.

But it's not enough.

…

I stumbled my way up into the Lor Starcutter.

The old ship gave me comfort, knowing that it has befriended me before. Magolor similarly tried to cheer me up, by encouraging me to run through one of the short courses.

Evidently, it did nothing for my mood. The usual optimist is now a pessimist? Ha.

I gave a fake chuckled to him and left for the course. It seemed like the world was already lost.

As I turned into one of the corridors, I heard a whir, as the engines powered up and a certain feeling grew within me.

We took off, as Magolor loudly cheered, happy that his ship was running well.

...I want to move on from _them_, but it just seemed like I wasn't able to.

Nor will I ever be able to do so.

Scouring the designated room, I passed the metallic dummy Magolor had set up and into one of the challenge courses.

Jumping, running, doing it in record time. I was on top of my game. Such was focus.

Maybe this is another side-effect of _them_.

...I need to take my mind off things. This seems like a great idea for that.

So, I ran through it once. Then another run. And another run. Each time, my time reduced by a slightly tiny bit.

Challenge courses were the best at venting your heart out.

I myself loved them; the ideas were new, and it was pretty cool after the ship finally retrieved its final piece back when Magoloe was actually a manipulator.

How time flies.

As I exited what would be my fifth consecutive run of the day, Taranza barged in out of nowhere, waving his six arms all at once.

"Hey! Mate, you still need a dumpster to fill?"

"No… not particularly.. I've just been strolling around; you know, hehe.

I smartly decided to shut up and walk back to the common lodgings. As I weaved my way from the hallway to right beside my door, I could see Taranza tailing me, poking out his head once in a while.

I haven't dealt with this kind of stress yet. Oh, sure; eat breakfast, save the world, back at home in record time.

Now it's all gone awry. Casualties, everywhere I go.

I looked back again. Taranza seemed a bit sad. The spider had that expression when he thought nobody was looking.

I have that expression, too.

* * *

The ship flew across space in style, leaving behind a trail of stars as Magolor settled the ship into a well-paced route.

They were not entirely taking the scenic route, but instead going past a few planets.

Jambastion has not fled that far. They were absolutely going to catch the base.

It's simply a matter of time.

Flamberge was beside her sisters, touring his ship. He had given them permission. It was only kindness that led him this far, and he was going to portray it as far as he can do so.

He will not fall into the pit of lies he had dug himself into in the past.

As Francisca wowed at everything, Zan Partizanne noticed the faraway ship.

"The bastille. It's heading back to the red planet."

Out of nowhere, that was. Magolor turned at her as she returned back with her sisters, Flamberge looked at her passively before giving a sigh and approaching Magolor.

"What she meant to say is that the final destination the ship is going to is the main base of our operations."

"Ah. I got that from the first one," Magolor commented.

"I see," Flamberge nodded.

"Wow. You people are really bad at conversing," another voice spoke up. It had a soprano feel to it, slightly high but not too high.

Magolor _really_ turned this time, as he saw a being made up of literal clockwork, floating and bobbing up and down.

The being looked kind of reminiscent of _himself_, actually, what's with the gear design and all. In fact, he had an idle thought in his head.

_Have I seen this guy before?_

Flamberge pulled out her flaming weapon as she fiercely pointed at the suddenly appearing being.

Nearing Magolor, the being spoke. "A Halcandran? I've not seen _them_ for a while…"

"Ah, that might be because a lot of them died off?"

"Oh." The being looked pained, hurt by the statement. "And here I was, idling away. Ah…"

"I really can't help it, though," the being continued. "Have you ever had a history lesson, young Halcandran?"

"Never paid attention in History. Stole a ship instead," Magolor admitted.

"Ah, the crazy type, then. Well, I suppose I actually must introduce myself to a Halcandran. Never thought I would do that… Usually they just _know_ me. Well…" the being bowed extravagantly as it delivered its name.

"I do believe my name is Novus. I am a researcher from the Halcandran lands and the creator of the wish-granters, the Novae."

Raising from its bow, it came face-to-face with a shocked Magolor as it provided another boggling statement. "I have a grudge against Termina and I will aid you in killing him."

* * *

Andromeda stood there, unblinking, as Marx gazed off. He needed to keep up the act…!

This fish lady isn't just going to stand there and look pretty! Well, it has a white body, scales shimmering as it moved. Counts as a fish lady.

"So, you say you're Andromeda. Damn, you look snazzy!" Marx said, in awe.

"Ahuhu~ Thanks, thanks. I will, of course, aid you. As is the service of a goddess to one of her loyal subjects."

"Subjects?" Marx queried. "Indeed, subjects. Surely, you've heard of the children?"

"Well, I _have_ been called a trickster before…"

"Indeed, _child of tricksters_, indeed. In fact, you've met all of the children so far. Those who find the dark and the light enticing, those who wish for the stars, and those who value wit and tricks above all else. However, it has fallen out of balance."

Andromeda held up her hands. "I am not guilty of this, but you could say I was involved in this. Termina was to be an embodiment of free will, and yet he has gone deluded for chaos and free reign over all."

"It is mainly why we are contacting children who are not in our own aspects," she added.

Marx could only stare at the information. He really didn't want to trust her now. This situation seemed set up. Way too suspicious for him.

"Ah, of course. So, what happened?"

Andromeda shook her head. "Well… where do we start? Shortly after you died…"

And Marx was out.

…

"Let's continue. Surely, you can control the timings of your faints?"

"P-perfectly," Marx nodded in agreement.

"Of course. Now, you died, and then disappeared. This was caused by Morpho, the challenge-hungry fool."

Stunned, Marx could only gape.

"Ahuhu~ Say, say. Why are you so shocked? I thought you already knew this, based on the situation?"

"I didn't know I was dead!" Marx cried out, his face in terror.

"Ahu… that might be trouble, then. Especially now that your _body_ is gone…" Andromeda slithered closer. "You won't have any choice but to accept my proposal."

Harsh. _Distrust_ raced across the air.

"...and how can I know that you won't screw me over?" Marx begrudgingly asked.

"Ahuhu… I don't go back on my words, _trickster_. You _will_ regain a body when it is said and done."

Andromeda smiled. Marx quivered, as he tried to open his wings to no avail.

"It may just be; ah, a bit _different_ to what most would like it."

Marx stopped quivering. He had made up his mind.

"So, what's your choice?"

"I…"

* * *

Novus laughed, sad in his predicament. "And to think that one of the children is dead…"

"What a terrible, terrible situation we are in…"

Magolor questioningly cocked his head. "...what?"

"Marx is, of course, dead. However…"

"However…?" Magolor followed.

"...he is worse than dead. Such, ah, pure chaos, once flip-flopping, once erring, once distant and now so close, all of that together… makes him lost in the _pit_," Novus explained.

"The _pit_ of what?" Flamberge questioned, out of the blue.

"The pit of _Termina_. The insides, torn apart, half split as he screams in agony and pain-"

A sharp intake of breath.

"-especially, especially especially _especially_ when he is in _such_ a state of denial, of distrust, of self-loathing, of hiding, that no one noticed at all."

"He is, in fact, what his name entirely suggests. A child of _tricksters. _A liar. The one who puts on a mask. And at that… he is simply too good at hiding his _own_ emotions."

Magolor stopped for a moment. Unsure, he began, "And you are _sure_ he is in Termina's pit, or whatever? Our _lovely _friend is grieving over the fact of _two_ deaths, and you tell us this?"

Novus nodded somberly. "Indeed. The place does exist, though access to it is inevitably hard and precarious on its own. The eagle does not simply sleep, you see. It _hunts_."

"...can we get _them_ back, then? From Termina's pit, I mean," Francisca nervously proposed.

"To that, I do not know. I only know of its existence. For now, we shall move on to why exactly I am here."

Magolor observed him. "Well, from the looks, you look slightly Halcandran… what's with the clockwork and all."

"My origins are that of the planet, yes. I am, as you suspect, a Halcandran. I am also a precursor to what would eventually be the downfall of Halcandra, after a certain dragon's... wish."

Magolor shuddered. He shuddered so intensely.

After all, the memory it brought was not one he was so keen to remember.

* * *

"I…"

Marx shook his head. "I… refuse."

Andromeda smiled even more. "And to think you would do this. Ah, how predictable, how predictable~"

"So then you choose _death_."

Andromeda's eyes turned, slanted as a wicked grin splayed across her face. "Wonderful! WONDERFUL!"

Marx booked it. He was running straight to hell for this one, as Andromeda flopped, water discharging as bullets, raining down upon the metaphorical world with water.

He didn't have enough energy to deal with this. The rain pittered and pattered as Marx was battered under the piercing strikes from the heavily fast drops of water.

Andromeda laughed in amusement, cackled in the present situation as Marx soon began to drown under the heavy weight of the increasing water.

There was no ceiling. There was no end, too, as the water poured in.

Marx bitterly laughed as he drowned in the sad ocean.

He wasn't the type to trust. Another godlike being after the last one was insane enough to try and kill him?

Yeah, no. Mentally, he was broken. Physically, he was injured. He was tired, tired, tired.

He wanted it to end. His mind raced back to when the endless, empty, and vast corners of space encircled him from all sides.

When he became entrapped within Nova, when he kept a piece of that _rubble_, all the way until now…

_My last wish…_

_mY lASt wISh… . . ._

_-y -s- w-sh._

_is to __**live**__._

* * *

"'My wish is to be a ruler,' the dragon once remarked."

Novus could only watch as his creation gifted the dragon with _energy_, with magic so potent it could kill.

The Master Crown. Some might rise to its temptation…

And they would be foolish for doing so.

After some raids done by the Halcandrans, they gifted the crown to their current president, their official world ruler.

In a swift move, the entire civilization broke down into pieces.

Civil wars, thievery, fighting, war…

All of it descended as soon as the ruler wore the crown.

They demanded more and more, and became a ruthless tyrant who used the power of the crown to advance his own pleases.

Eventually…

The man was murdered. Assassinated, by a sparking young rebel.

As his hands touched the crown, it wrought hell onto him. As the crown hopped between owners, the effect soon started.

And they were into another quest of bloodshed.

The dragon, who was not pleased, eventually stole the crown back, as only its rightful ruler could only wear the crown, as the temptation did not entice what the dragon had already deemed sufficient enough for him.

Novus had shed tears, seeing his kind fall into 'extinction'.

Except that he couldn't. After all, because of what he did…

He will never be able to do so again. Termina…

Was where he was wronged. Wronged so far as to be stuck, pitifully stripped of his _body_ and stuffed into one of his creations…

_Only_ for his wish to be granted.

How the irony works, when his creations could not grant him the wish he so pleased. Instead, pushed by a middleman up to the gods themselves, to plead for-

The gods and goddesses had been much more neutral than what he expected. Gone were the moral rights. Gone were the belief that a certain this could only support a certain that.

These so-called "gods", these beings…

They were simply those with too much power. From what _source_, he did not know. What he did know was that they do not _care_.

Not a single one of them cared when he was stuck, when his pleas for help rang out into the far, empty reaches of space. Only when the Nova started getting destroyed was when he had any semblance of hope back.

That was when _they_ gained back a form. A return to the living… as the unliving.

...

"How ironic it was, that my own creation could not fulfill my own wish? Hahaha…!" Novus somberly cackled, as they slumped, eyes rolling, body fallen, collapsed upon the ship's floor.

Magolor, stunned, returned back to his steering. Let's ignore the obvious body right on the floor…

Magolor snickered at the in head commentary, though his emotion soon resolved itself back to a plain look.

Well, jokes aside...

The story had been wild, and he could understand what Novus' motive was. But…

If they were so affiliated with these "gods" they kept talking about…

Would Novus themselves be trustworthy on their own?

The thought idled away in Magolor's head as they sailed across the vast sea of space towards their goal.

The mothership.

* * *

Andromeda could only somberly smile as she watched Marx lose the last bubble, floating away and out of his mouth. Soon, the jester had gone limp, no longer moving, as the waters receded. Andromeda, wary of potential tricks, fired a fast bolt of water, poised at Marx's vitals.

Except that he was now gone.

Marx was gone. Andromeda looked around in confusion. That shouldn't happen. Nothing normal was displayed there.

Marx wasn't supposed to _just_ disappear. In fright and paranoia, Andromeda checked her back a couple of times, making sure it's safe, before trying to exit Marx's soulscape.

[EXITING. PLEASE WAIT.]

The bright text appeared. Andromeda breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the calming words wash over her.

[EXITING IN 3… DO NOT MOVE, OR EXIT WILL BE CANCELLED DUE TO SAFETY REASONS.]

Keeping still, the fish lady held her breath as the countdown began.

_Three_.

A tense atmosphere descended upon the goddess.

_Two_.

A bead of sweat ran down the otherwise perfect face, as something watched her quiver. Something was there.

Something had to be. This coldness was unnatural.

**One**.

Andromeda smiled as the timer in her head reached the number.

Something fast was there. A glint of red…

And then sharp pain. Andromeda gasped, her body convulsing as a gash appeared on her scales. And then, the dreaded message.

[EXIT FAILED. MOVEMENT WAS DETECTED. ABORTING.]

_Damn it, Novus! I don't care about __**safety**__, let me out! _

"Ah, deeply mistaken, you are," a voice chimed in.

"Correctamundo!" came a familiar voice.

"You!? How!?"

"Oh, I made a wish," the jester quipped, smug.

"Novus..!" Andromeda realised, as the voice got closer.

"Now you're trapped~"

...

Marx was drowning. Had been drowning. The water was deep, unrelenting in its cause. As he soon saw the closing walls, he laid there, in the scape of his mind, wishing.

_Let this be my final gift, then. You've exhausted all that I can offer. Thank you for your company, __**Marx.**_

"...Nova-hrk!?"

Marx whimpered out the name, sickly, as he took in water.

Morpho, who started to regain his consciousness, watched as Marx was entrapped, water filling all around, drowning the jester.

And it was _pissed_. No one, not even a goddess, would take such a challenger, such a brave soul, with force like this! Morpho shook that out. As the butterfly discretely moved, it edged closer and closer to Marx.

Truth be told, he wanted a challenge himself, too. If that is required to make this 'Marx' a champion of his, then so be it!

Morpho entered the water. Cold, forbidden of warmth, as the jester sunk.

Morpho touched him, beckoned him, and off they were, resonating with the jester as he convulsed.

They offered to help. He accepted.

…

The fear was palpable. Then, anger washed over. "You weren't supposed to interfere…!"

"I will do so whenever I want. Your so-called 'rules' are so strict that they constrict and imprison those. In my opinion, chaos and free will is the way to advance in."

"YOU ARE NEUTRAL!" she screamed in disbelief, trying to remind the butterfly of their stand.

"And now I am not," they said, with full clarity.

Andromeda backed up. She wasn't about to chance this. "You can't bend the rules! They are my rules! The universe works how I want it to! You can't just up and-"

"You think a defector to the side of _free will_ would indulge you in those rules? The game is over, Andromeda. You're no longer at the highest point."

"I thought you always searched for challenges! Not this!"

"Ah, my dear Andromeda. I'm afraid you've misunderstood."

"This _is _the challenge."

Morpho floated up with two glowing wings, as the _body_ of the jester rose.

"And now he has a new body, and now we are free."

Morpho lashed out, as two crimson glowing balls emerged, both ready to fire lasers on will. Morpho willed them so, causing Andromeda to scramble to safety.

But there was no safety; in the recesses of the mind, there are no recesses, no hidey-holes nor nooks to hide behind.

So the fish goddess was struck on the back, screeching in pain from the hot blast. "Ah, Andromeda. I thought you would prove to be a challenge. No…"

Red roses began to bloom, as sharp spikes poked out of the dreamworld's floor.

"No, you are not even a challenge. I have nothing to fear anymore."

The spikes pierced the goddess, as a blast of orange lightning burst down from above, frying the lady.

A routine laser came flying, curving as the spikes dug deeper and it hit Andromeda, all in one.

In retaliation, Andromeda tried to fire a watery blast, sending the water bolt so fast, and so many, before Morpho Marx simply split in half, swallowing it all.

"Sometimes, a copy of the weak is necessary."

And every single blast came out.

"So that they can become strong."

The water returned, hitting the struggling fish head on, watering the roses all the while.

"AAAAUGH!" she cried, as the spikes dug deeper, fresh from the intake of water.

"So… not even a good fight back, I see." Morpho sighed. Sometimes, things displeased the god.

"Ah, pathetic. Goodbye, Andromeda."

And a giant sword came from heaven, all red and gold, slicing the fish in two, all the way to hell.

Morpho Marx breathed out heavily. They had done it, with the body of the trickster.

So now, the exit…

A star-shaped portal appeared. Convenient.

And Marx stepped through.

And Morpho stepped through.

Both fluttered in the vast channel of space, right outside the giant station. Leaching out was a dark will, a malevolent one, _one_ which would soon go untamed, crazy in its silence and lonely surroundings.

Did Morpho give it some care? No, not really. After all, they still needed to form the last challenge for the heroes.

They stared to the distance, where a blue ship could be clearly seen.

* * *

Magolor piloted the ship, approaching ever so slowly. The mothership had stopped, circling a planet.

They probably had a base on the planet as well.

Magolor made the assumption, and later verified it when Francisca informed him of it.

Flamberge supported the fact, and Partizanne gave a thumbs up.

Moving the ship, Magolor took a seat back and relaxed.

Finally. They were here. And with that, they will make everything right again.

Make Kirby snap out of that depressive state.

And-

"What the-" Flamberge spoke out, as a figure showed up on the cameras.

Magolor stood up.

_No._

_Marx was there, along with butterfly wings so red and orange that it seemed out of place. _

His hat was now red and white, along with the small tie he always wore.

"Marx?!" Magolor yelled in disbelief. He wasn't supposed to be here. He is dead. Unless…

He _was_ dead.

…

Kirby occasionally peered out of the circular windows, as per Taranza's advice. He could at least do that. Though…

He let Hyness down. He let Marx down. And…

"Marx?!" a yell came from the control room.

"Marx…?" Kirby murmured.

"Wait, MARX?" Kirby widened his eyes. Out he was from the bed he was sitting on, and to the control room he went, where he saw a different Marx.

"Ah. Marx…"

"I thought you were gone…"

"But you're here!"

Hope began to return.

But…

[DAMAGE. DAMAGE DETECTED. DEPLOYING SHIELD DEFENSES.]

What was there is no longer the Marx they knew. A sword was pulled, and red bolts of firey flames began to shoot out from the tip.

It was a battle. A fight.

And so, Magolor turned the steering all around.

"Buckle up! We've got company!"

* * *

_**Andromeda, Goddess of Will**_

_A goddess of __**will**__, and by extension, __**order.**_ _She doesn't get along too well with others, and will usually put her __**rules first and foremost**_ _to serve as a basis on how she should __**act**__._

_She hates __**Morpho**_ _for various reasons, mainly to the amount of rule-breaking they usually do. She also hates __**Termina**__, though it was not this case in the past._

_**Novus**_ _is an exception to this, as they are on _**neutral** _terms._

* * *

AN: Okay, wow. I really procrastinated this one.

So, sometimes I get the urge to write. And that's fine and all, but I also get lazy sometimes. You know, games to play, schoolwork to do, and all that.

Writing is a fun thing to do, don't get me wrong, but sometimes real life gets in the way. And sometimes, I just don't have enough time. Or sometimes, I just wanted to finish that one game I've been putting off for so long.

Yeah, that's what I've been getting up to, anyways. Thanks for reading this chapter; I bid you adieu!


	29. EX - The FRONT of the Cause

**Star's Allies**

**Extra - The FRONT of the Cause**

* * *

A workshop. A man. A job.

All day. Every day.

Novus worked long and hard for this. Their work would not go unfinished soon. The ruler of Halcandra oversought their assets. Novus was one to keep, definitely. If he could finish his machine…

Halcandra would become the most rich planet yet!

…

I work in my small workshop, just at the edge of town. I'm usually Novus, or sometimes 'The Genius', as those folks in the big place called me. I'm just an inventor, working the everyday job.

My next project would be the wish granters. Honestly, the thought of such small little things, granting the small wish of a child…

Maybe a small cookie, or some ice cream, to cheer them up…

Or maybe some cake, for their birthday!

Well, it's a small scale project. I didn't wish it to blow up beyond my handling.

But sometimes the recognition I get is astoundingly annoying.

"Novus. Work on this," they would say.

And I always said no. A creator's ideas should only be theirs. If you aren't original, nobody will pay attention. Good attention, I mean.

I don't want to be known as a copycat. An inventor must _invent_, after all, not improve on what already exists. Improvers would do that, calling it their 'brand new product' or something like that.

Sometimes I wish other inventors got their own recognition.

I would bring my little wishmakers off to the park, so that children could wish.

Wish to all their hearts' content. At least, that's what they would always do, as I always brought my little wishmakers here, until…

"You'll get a pay raise."

"...of how much?"

".000 halcoins. Every month for the scope of the project, for the funding and the material, as well as your time. .000 halcoins, for the end project."

"I'll accept it."

I fell to the hands of greed. Sometimes, things look too good to be true. I wished I thought of that before trying to back out multiple times during the project.

"I need that deadline to be extended."

"M-more time, president! An invention has to be in great care!"

"I NEED MORE TIME! LET ME HAVE MORE TIME! I'LL PROVIDE AN UPDATE, BUT LET ME INVENT AND I'LL CALL WHEN IT'S READY!" I slammed my communicator at the floor, my eyes red and baggy, tired from the eleven allnighters I pulled.

This is crazy! They expect me to finish that fast!?

"Give me a damn break! This is- I'll sue you!" the inventor rambled, his hands slamming against the metal, sterile table.

"And you think you have enough political power and influence to do that? Know your place in society. _We_ are the ones who enjoy luxury. The workforce is the one who slave away under the heat of the sol," the agent notified. "And yeah, you'll sue us, and then get absolutely crushed in court? You know we have the judge, jury, and the prosecution ready to execute you the moment you step in there with a lousy attorney."

The agent informed him of this in a monotone voice, his eyes glazed over.

"Agh…"

He knew he signed himself away. He knew why he was erring. He knew how a single decision can bring hell to your life.

Stressed out by the daily rants and ramblings of the contractor's agents, Novus knew he would get himself executed sooner or later. Power was everything, after all, even if compared to the normal denizens of Halcandra, the government was a-ok in that department. What could a single inventor do against a whole corporation of like-minded individuals?

Which is why _he_ wished for things _himself_.

"I wish for currency."

[WISH GRANTED.]

And coins would drop from thin air, though they were an unusual sort of bunch. They were different coins, from different ages, from different worlds.

Thus, came conclusion number 1.

_It must be _effectively possible _in any world for the item to exist. _

And later, an addendum.

_Correction; the item given fulfills the bare minimum. Specific instructions are required to give the wisher what he or she truly wants._

Both these two concrete constants was what he was working around, keeping him on his toes. Those agents could've done something before this all happened. They could've messed everything up with a single prompt.

_I wish._

Distrust; fear; of the unknown, of the untrustworthy.

The chances that the government will abuse this power is _extremely likely._

In the history of Halcandra, there had been many cases as such.

Novus knows this well; he is studious on many historical topics, despite being an inventor. Sometimes, both those things mix well, like the re-discovery of several different materials, buried under the old _castle_ (which the presidency soon claimed as theirs, only letting a small amount known to the rest of Halcandra).

There had been an old castle, which led to the discovery of such elements. This was definite proof that since the beginning, the leading government is actually hiding things from the population. They were the ones who lived in luxury, whilst the rest of the world starved in hunger and lived in poverty.

It sure is better now, but the history says otherwise. Novus knows this.

He knows that sooner or later, they'll come and get it all. All of his hard work. All of his labour, sweat, _gone_, only for the rich to use and the government to abuse.

Which is why he set up a countermeasure.

That the Novae will always obey their _original_ creator, no matter what. The government will not be able to reproduce the machines; no, only he knows the true key of how to truly build it. Should they ignore his warnings, they might just find ten thousand time bombs blowing up their presidential factory.

The Novae will be hardcoded to obey only _him_. The Novae will ignore all other priorities and only focus on _his_ command.

Such were the countermeasures Novus implemented.

Confident in his work, Novus stepped off, glanced at the batch of Novae, and walked off with his book of notes. Soon, he'll burn them. After all, the _memory_ was already in his head.

No one will know how to produce his little machines. No one will be able to.

Multiple safety precautions, all encoded and encrypted with the best way he knew how to. All stacked in his favour.

* * *

"And so, this is my offer to you. I sell you these Novae right here-" and he turns around, signalling the two small machines to come forward, "-and I'll receive the money."

"Can we buy the patent and the blueprints?" the gruff voice asked of him.

"No can do! I'm the only guy in town who can actually build it. If you try to, you might find the building blow up or something! It's a safety precaution that only I can build it, see! I fear that inexperienced people would attempt to build something like this, so all the knowhow is in here!" Novus tapped his head.

"...hhhhh."

A tense negotiation. Novus nearly wanted to throw up from all the pressure that was building up.

They gave him a good, long stare before sighing.

"In that case, we are lowering our 10 billion halcoin deal to our usual 1 billion."

"No can do. I am staying put at 10 billion. You can't back out now."

"8 billion."

"Why are you trying to haggle with me? 9.5 billion."

"8.35 billion."

Novus gave his limit. "9.35 billion is the lowest I'll go."

"...Alright."

The money was transferred well. Novus had gotten his money, all in physical form. It was only ten suitcases, and the space used for to transport the Novae was repurposed for them. "Yep. Received, _documented_. Thanks for the deal! Contact me when you need more!"

And the inventor strolled off, happy that the deal was done and he was _out_ of the stuffy room.

One Nova turned to their new boss.

AWAITING PROTOCOL.

"I wish for Novus to be _dead_."

WISH GRANTED.

And a dragon egg appeared.

…

It was a calm day in his house. Though he had all the cash in the world, he lived a frugal life. The money was mostly spent on funding his next projects; his main one being building the ultimate Nova, the greatest wish-granter he will ever build. It was a carbon copy of himself; atleast, as close as he could get it to with gears and the exterior machinery.

It's a masterpiece.

He had produced even more Novae for the government, some even as large as entire planets (all of them were repurposed for 'so and so' things, an example would be transplanting the entire botanical side of Halcandra, which disappeared along with the wish-granters). They would sometimes house other Halcandrans, or procure food and daily necessities.

He was proud of his work. It made a dent in Halcandran history as one of the things most influential in the public's eyes.

Of course, the public version of the Novae had to be dumbed down a bit, but otherwise people seem to be using it as intended.

Which is good, of course, as the multiple precautions both in paying for the Nova itself and the instruction manual pointed out drastic things should they mistreat the mini wishmakers.

All was good in life. Maybe his paranoia wasn't justified, after all. His students would laugh it off. He really should, too.

It was a time of rest and relaxation. What's left of his projects were automated, and a definite headway was making it through in the science world.

After all, it was all his little wishmakers could do.

_Grant wishes, within reason._

The Novae had become a staple in every single house on the planet. No more were old robots, struggling here and there to buy produce and make said produce. Now, all they needed was the need to cultivate, and the wish for such a thing.

Wishes come from belief, and belief can only go so far. Ambitions, on the other hand… His little Novae works like that.

Any stray thoughts wouldn't just become the wish it would grant. It needs ambition.

Novus had already planned it through.

Through and through and through.

The world was an utopia.

And with it, came monotony. Systems in place, daily lives everyday doing the same tasks over and over again. He could see it from his bedside. Thankfully this didn't affect the world's greatest thinkers, him included.

As scientists and progressers for the future, their minds had to stay creative. Always filled with ideas. Novus knows that they'll run out of new ideas some time in the future, but now, it was another golden age of science. Time to answer lifelong questions, to break the barrier.

The frontier was clear for young, aspiring individuals to take and the old to teach. But...

It was, in all senses, _quite_ the utopia, despite the monotony.

And he wanted to break that monotony. And thus, with that, he started his research on age old questions. With wish-granters, anything is possible.

_Even immortality._

…

"He is ready?"

"Yes."

"Good. Release him, then."

A four-headed dragon was bound, laced with restraints and whip marks, along with gash marks, bullet marks, burn marks, and whatever marks was possible to be inflicted on a young dragon.

The drake was a red one, and one heavily abused for its appearance. It has a powerful gaze at the ones running the show, the people in black and blue suits.

The dragon wanted to burn them all.

And as soon as the people's slimy hands turned off the laser bars…

"Aaaaaauuugh! S-shit!"

Landra chomped one whole arm off. The other tried to shoot him. Too bad his fire already burnt the weapon too much, as it exploded on the man's hands.

"Sound the alarm! Sound the-"

They had gotten too lax on his security.

This was one full advantage that he took graciously.

Eating the two people whole, Landra headed for the exit, wherever that may be.

* * *

"So, I see that you have paid attention. Very well. Now, we'll move on to quantum connection, the complicated basis to our daily tech, at least here in the lab. You'll need to be able to fix your own equipment, and I will definitely not be doing that for you. Now… these connections are usually represented by a blue glowing line when a certain compound is exposed to it."

A hand rose up from the group. "Uh, is that compound algerite, sir?"

"Correct. Algerite, mined from our planet's depths, shines a deep red when solid and invisible when it's a gas. It is also non-toxic, which makes it our number one pick for identifying the quantum connections. I'd rather not use the other alternatives, see."

"What's the a-alternative to algerite, sir?" the timid one asked.

"Hm. That would be _cyanide_, mixed with an odd compound called bosmium. As you can tell, cyanide is lethal in large doses _especially_ in its gaseous form. Have I mentioned that its reaction to bosmium is explosive, as well? We used to pour it in with long titanium clamps before we started using the simpler version, algerite."

The class 'ooh'ed in unison as Novus rambled on about the topic. Showing them the blue lines, Novus moved on. "So, you see, there's a tiny bit of coding here, too. Who here has studied coding?"

A few of his students raised their hands. Good.

"Alright. So, imagine the connections as code. And that code does something; has an input, an output, and everything in between. We modify that line of code to produce the result we want. Fooor example…"

A Nova floated in the room.

"Say hello to Eclipse over here."

The Nova mewed as the class mumbled a hello.

"Ah, sad that you don't share the same enthusiasm I have about those little wishmakers. Anyways, Eclipse here is made out of that code. We bind the quantum connection to an input and output, write the code, and make _sure_ it works."

Novus stopped.

"Well, we usually simulate the code, first… which is why today you'll be downloading this handy application I have here. Personal AI, will keep all your computations and simulations safe, secure, and recorded. That's about it for today, if you'd like to ask Eclipse about something, please go do so. I'll be over there," and Novus pointed, his finger to the 'planning table' as he usually calls it, "planning my new idea out. So then- ciao!"

A few of the students immediately left. Some stayed behind, heeding Novus' words. As Novus stepped over to the planning table, a loud roar was heard.

"W-what was that?" one of his students worryingly murmured.

...Turns out his paranoia was justified all along.

Novus turned around, grabbed his preferred weapon and stormed out of the lab, ordering his students to go to the bunker in the basement.

He worried each day for some crazy situation the government would pull at him.

And today's that day. Novus raised his weapon as a shadow moved.

Novus looked up.

A Landra was there, roaring in pain from the multiple injuries it had sustained.

But the drake continued on, roaring, yelping, as it breathed fire and burned Halcandra down.

A magical creature, one from the books of legend and fairy tales.

Right outside his doorstep.

It didn't take long to realize that this was probably the government's fault.

They were the only ones with advanced wishes unlocked in their Novae, after all.

_Shit. A dragon's running rampage and oh boy what can I do-_

"Eclipse, I _wish_ for ultimate power."

"Wish granted."

And a crown appeared, right at Novus' hands. "Uh-"

Novus glanced at it for a good minute, before putting it on. Once it was on top of his head, he could _feel_ the amount of power this thing boasted. And..

...and...

He could feel the power.

The power.

…

...what was his goal again?

Power?

No, that seems off.

Maybe Power was it.

Yes… power.

And then **we'll** rule the world!

With nobo-

...

The crown was unceremoniously smacked off of his head. Novus fell down in a sense of confusion, as his surroundings soon turned into a brawl.

His students were fighting each other for the crown. Unnerved by the item, Novus crawled the best he could out of his house.

He was not _touching_ the crown again.

No, no, nononononono.

No power.

Must have power.

Power.

Po-

Novus shut off that part of his mind, paying the greed no heed.

"Eclipse, go big and run! Run! Before the dr-"

Landra growled furiously at the scientist.

As it landed, Novus could only glance as the four headed dragon split into four willingly.

One of the four stepped up to him.

"You failed," it said.

Another resumed their brother's words. "You summoned a cursed item here."

"Wh-what? No, no I didn't."

"I can _feel_ the greed from you. You and your wish granters have made too much greed in this world. So-"

Another part of the dragon continued. "I must eradicate the world of the taint, I suppose."

"Wait, no! You can't do this!"

And the dragon growled together, merging back into one.

"You cannot order us. We have the purest of hearts. This is for the best. This world is too rotten. My handlers are dead."

It snarled. "Good for them."

And the dragon continued its rampage, switching from its four dragon form and its conjoined form.

And Novus took a stand, watched; as he saw the world burn, literally.

He turned back, to see that his students were dead, blood in their hands as the crown remained in no one's hands.

A voice enticed him to pick it up.

So he went to try to do it. But Eclipse was in the way.

Eclipse _is_ in the way.

_IN THE WAY._

Novus punted the ballbot, and went diving for the crown.

Eclipse responded by latching itself to Novus, pulling the incomprehensible scientist away from the crown, as he spouted nonsense at the robot.

Once the crown was out of his range of sight, Novus collapsed again, this time, for real.

Eclipse stood watch as the Nova sighed in relief.

* * *

Several hours passed. Eclipse was getting anxious. Novus is still collapsed. They do not know enough about living biology to ascertain the safety of their creator.

The dragon stepped near them. They were together again.

"So, I see. He remains the last one."

And the dragon let out a scream of victory.

Those yells it did in the air were that of confidence, not pain.

All those screeches were done intentionally.

All to spread the message. Nearly every single member of the rotten civilization is dead.

All that remains is the man resisting the pull of the powerful yet cursed artifact.

Landra let out a sigh. It will be its last kill on this planet. So, Landra starts while the man is still unconscious. Less pain for him.

But, his odd pet intervened. "Do not harm master. He is a good person. Harm the crown instead."

It tried to reason with him, unlike anything in this damned planet.

So, Landra heeded the message. Maybe he'll let one alive. The civilization is effectively dead anyways.

Landra turned it four heads to the crown. As it approached the accessory, Landra smelt smoke.

Something was up, and this smoke is different compared to his own smoke.

It had a bit of a metallic tang to it, as if it was made from something that is not fire on wood.

And then-

BOOM!

Landra screamt in pain, _actual pain, _as a giant laser beam shot at them from the skies. It pierced the dragon to four.

No big deal. They could always merge back-

No. They no longer could.

They tried and tried, oh so tried, tested.

But it was to no avail. The damage was enough to permanently set them apart.

Indefinitely.

A young voice chuckled as it boomed across the planet.

"Take that, dragon! Now, give me the crown!"

Landra wasn't just about to listen to some snot-nosed brat. It took the crown for itself.

And thus, Landra was back in their merged form, four heads and one body, all in its glory.

The ship that was voicing its thoughts suddenly backed off. Too late for that.

Landra beamed multiple fireballs at the blur ship, nailing multiple parts of it.

As the ship sailed back into space, damaged, Landra stopped their assault and began to care for the two others on the planet.

The odd pet thing and the important guy.

It was the least it could do, after showering the entire planet with fire.

The Halcandrans were dead now.

Landra turned to the cursed artifact. It knew it was cursed. One look at it and one could tell the heavy miasma over the entire crown.

Landra knew it was its job to wear it. No other being of pure heart can withstand its temptation of power.

The crown was picked up, and established on top of Landra's head. With that, the multiple parts of Landra begin to merge again, all into one being with loaded amounts of power.

It let out a screech of power, of hierarchy as volcanoes boomed all around them.

Lava poured on to the surface, ruining the once prosperous lands of Halcandra.

The sky turned red as the smoke from all the sources of lava blocked the light from the nearby star.

"Master. Master, are you all right?"

"Ngh. Uagg. I'm- I'm fine… fine…?"

Oh. Right. Nearly forgot about those two.

The odd man was sweltering. Collapsed in front of the enviable dragon.

The pitiable man knew his end was near.

"My domain is not one for you. This planet's hideous beings are dead. Soon, you will be, too."

Novus took a deep breath, choking in the ash.

"Agk-ah-haaaa… Wha-hat have we…. done to.. kha- wrong y-yo-"

Novus broke down in a fit of coughs, Eclipse beside him.

"Your people desecrated me. Mistreated me. Used me. I did that to your people. Now they are gone."

"_Eclipse_…"

"Yes, master?"

In the undying winds of ash, howling as the world spun, Novus wished for something incredulous.

It was not his time to die.

Not his time to die.

_Not his time to die._

…

His head hurt.

It hurts.

All of it hurts.

ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsith-

Novus…

was not in the right state of mind for this.

He is dying.

But the frontier was too large to explore. Too many questions left unanswered. Too many sciences, not yet done.

…

His ambitions got the better of him.

…

"I wish for-kh; immortality."

"...Wish granted, master. Allow me to transform into the appropriate form."

And Eclipse launched to space, flying off, turning large, and larger, as the spherical robot soon turned into a massive planet sized threat.

Landra could only watch. What is this…?

Wish granted.

Preparing Results.

Pinging.

And a goddess appeared in all of its beauty, summoned by the plea.

"I am Andromeda, and I assume you are the ones who summoned me?"

"I-agaaaah… did." Novus breathed again, more dust and ash into his system.

"Let me live, grant me immortality, please. It is not my time."

"Absolutely not!" Landra yelled. "I'll burn you right now! I should've burned you when I had the chance…!"

Landra raised their heads and golden fire swept down their throats-

-and Andromeda, firing down a gullet of water down Landra's throat.

"I will grant that request. However, _their_ request is also just as valid. For immortality, I turn you into one of us."

Andromeda touched Novus.

"For _the dragon's _objections…"

Novus started to become made up of gears. Everything was gears. He looked more like a robot than a living being.

"You will serve _me_. Oh, how I longed for a personal servant…"

Andromeda touched Novus again. But Novus had already punched her in the face.

"I value my freedom, and despite my immortality, I want **free will** in my life!"

"I am the goddess of order, and you have spelled your own death sentence! Begone from my sight!"

Novus widened his robotic eyes. "Wait, n-"

And Andromeda blasted him with water, soaking him, before gripping the robotic arm he now had and flung him as hard as the goddess could.

Novus flew straight at Eclipse, out to the reaches of space.

Still, he lives. A robot does not require basic needs of a living being to operate.

"Why, _no… no, no..."_

Andromeda twinkled from the planet, readying a spell.

"With a fraction of my power, I shall merge you with that ingrate machine! _Goodbye_, you ungrateful, _fallen_ man!"

Nothing happened for a second.

But then a pink heart surged through the skies and up and out, hitting Novus square in his robotic chest. It dug deep, bored itself in.

Another pink heart lazily travelled to the mega-sized Eclipse, who only meowed at the sight of the planet.

The heart dug deep, and killed, killed, killed-

Novus felt himself growing sleepy.

And then the pain started.

His metal arm merged with Eclipse's outside, dragging him further inside, like a cell eating a bacteria.

As he was pulled further in, the pain wracked his body, as he could _feel_ his arms and legs being disintegrated, repurposed for additional machinery.

His body disconnected from his head, as it connected via wires to the core of the Nova.

His head was positioned right on top, the mess of metal situated at the centre and the brains of the operations.

"Serves you right."

Novus could hear the booming voice of this goddess; no, this devil of a woman.

As he allowed himself to be submerged with his creation, Novus thought back on how he could have prevented this.

...maybe the granting frivolous wishes wasn't such a good idea.

* * *

"Agh, darn! Well, maybe next time…"

A young Magolor piloted his ship carefully, soaring the stars.

"Hmm. Maybe I should go for the gold some other time. I _did _just get this ship a few months back, after all…"

The pilot paced around the control deck, as he heard a ping come from the screens.

"...'My name is Lor Starcutter'…? Oh... right. That's what this _unit_ is called…"

Magolor paced around some more.

"...Alright Lor. Where are we going?"

* * *

AN: Oh, boy.

This is done. Hmmm.

Here, we see the dynamics of Novus. Mind you, the guy's pretty smart, but he's not exactly the most smart in most situations…

Ambition comes first for him. Getting overworked doesn't help, either.

His out-of-nowhere need of immortality comes from his ambitions. The man already made wish-granting robots; who's to say of he also chased after the lifelong question of immortality?

Anyways, that's about it for this one, and so; we're off to the next one!


	30. Chapter 22 - Definite Devotion

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 22 - Definite Devotion**

* * *

They flip-flopped between avoiding and firing at this… new Marx, as the Lor Starcutter gracefully danced their way across the bullet hell that was incoming.

"Aw, shi-"

A slice of energy pierced through, sending mayday alarms across the Lor.

"We're trying to get away here! Right!?"

"NO!" Magolor bombarded. "We are taking him down, and then we'll get away!"

Another barrel roll was performed, and everything flipped.

"Oi, you're insane! Your piloting skills are wack!" Partizanne complained.

"My piloting skills is what's keeping us alive right now, and I'd apprec-"

"Focus on the damn wheel!" Taranza hollered, as another slice narrowly missed them.

"Ah, uh- yeah."

The Lor Starcutter circled the merged being, as it opened fire on the now swerving Marx.

"We're shooting at Marx?"

"Yeah, Kirbs; that's kinda the main thing here that we've been doing the past few minutes," Taranza remarked.

"That's kind of blunt," Francisca added.

"Ehhh, we've got it all covered. Marx'll be fine!"

And the ship went to another barrel roll, sending all of its occupants tumbling all over.

"Magolor! Keep it steady!"

"Do you want me to _dodge_ or not!?"

The ship took another hit.

"Piece of s-" Magolor started. "YEAH, WE GET IT, _DODGE_ ALREADY!" Taranza frantically yelled out.

Lor Starcutter dove down, avoiding a horizontal swipe, as the blades went vertical a few seconds later, causing Magolor to yank it hard to the left, as he fired down on a small and fast moving target.

It wasn't exactly easy, per se.

Taranza webbed his foot to the control room floor to stay stable. A few moments passed, and the ship rolled again.

"Hey, Magolor! Want some easy stick-ons?"

"What are stick-ons?" The focused Magolor asked.

"This!" Taranza cheerfully shot out, webbing Magolor's body to the control deck.

"Oh, thanks. THIS ISN'T USEFUL AT ALL!"

Taranza took offense to that.

"Are you insulting my prowess at web making? This calls for-"

Kirby was decidedly done and kicked Taranza. "Kirby! Why did you turn against me!?"

"Can we not fight right now-" Kirby said, halfway, before flipping over due to the 'dodging' ship.

Morpho Marx chose that time to shoot out a great spell of attacks.

Golden orbs began flying around, all in a beautiful yet deadly pattern. It specifically formed a giant butterfly, with extra orbs here and there, forming mini flowers.

The orbs rushed for the Lor.

"Aw, cripes!"

"Why... can't we just _dodge _them all? It's must be really _easy_ for you, as I, the great Partizanne, can tell!" Partizanne helpfully added, changing tone midway through.

"...sister, I am very sure that Magolor can dodge them all… not."

Francisca sighed as her two sisters bantered.

"Oi! Have some faith in me, would ya'? I'm tryin' to-"

"Focus!" Kirby commanded, as a flurry of slow moving diamonds flew in a circular pattern, all over the ship and everywhere else.

"Yeah, what he said!"

"Taranza, I need you to help me here. Can you?" Magolor asked of the spider.

The arachnid nodded. "Of course! Anytime; so, what am I doing again? I don't know how to operate all your thingamabobs and doohickeys and whatchamacallits and whatever else you name your appliances."

"Help me watch for Marx over there," Magolor pointed to a big screen on his right, "so that I can get this done faster."

"Ready, chief!"

"Don't call me chief!" Magolor responded.

"Okay, _boss!_"

Magolor sighed. "Don't call me boss, either!"

* * *

Another barrel roll was implemented against Marx, as the flying jester now shot a glamorous yet dangerous pattern of flowers, with himself as the focal point. To an observer looking from above this might even be considered gorgeous. To the people in the Lor…

"H-how many more has he got!? I can't dodge forever!"

"How many times-" Flamberge started, before being interrupted by-

"YES! YES!"

And Magolor threw the switch, firing back in the small time frame between each sequence of attacks.

"Kirby, you still with us?" Magolor asked.

"Being thrown around isn't really what I do, but yeah, I am," Kirby acknowledged the question.

"Great," Taranza muttered. "He's finally come to his senses."

The spider took a cursory glance at the puffball. He was shivering.

Kirby's eyes tell it all. "...Nevermind."

"How much longer, Magolor?" Partizanne zapped out.

"Egh, I don't know-"

Alarms blared as a bullet shot through, the control room.

"FOCUS!"

"Then stop asking me questions!" Magolor retorted.

Flamberge laughed. "He's got a fair point."

Taranza chuckled, as he oversaw how bad the situation is right now.

One _very _angry pseudo-god being is currently pummeling them down.

That isn't really on his agenda.

"...Magolor, you mind if I bring the three sisters with me out there?"

"Mate, you've got to be insane. I still need to dodge, you know! You'll go flying off!"

Taranza tapped his foot. "Then tone it down a bit, wouldya? Alright… If you would follow me, ladies?"

"Gentlemanly. Oh; of course. Certainly," Flamberge agreed.

Magolor sighed yet again as he looked at the weird guy currently slumped over at the ground. Novus, was it…?

Right, Novus.

Still untrustworthy, in Magolor's opinion.

He really didn't want to get caught up in this god-goddess feud thing.

And especially after the same god came after them twice…

He was starting to get second thoughts about inviting such a sorry lad inside his ship.

Magolor sent the ship tumbling and rolling again as the barrage of bullets continued.

"Oi… augh-"

Magolor turned his head for a moment, and saw Novus, who started to wake up. The ship alarms blared, as the Starcutter took another hit. Another yell of "Focus!" and Magolor was back on commanding the ship to dodge like hell.

"H-hey… you can't just manhandle the ship like that!" Novus protested.

"What do you know about it?" Magolor questioned, half not paying attention.

"I'm the one who made the damn ship, and you're manhandling it."

"What?" Magolor blurted out in surprise. "You're the one who made this ship?"

"Well, I had a hand on it; I'm the one who made the blueprints and wrote the code, yeah; so I definitely made it! All those fools who helped me make it died anyway…"

Magolor shivered for a moment, before Novus approached him. "You see, the ship has a mind of its own. It's just that this one's a quiet one. We programmed it like that. A self-sustaining A.I."

"Huh. This wasn't in the manual," Magolor commented.

"We didn't put it in the manual. It's more of a pilot and vehicle bond, though the artificial intelligence is still there, making decisions on its own. Sure, it lets _you_ have control, but sometimes, it's better to just let the ship move on it's own. I didn't program a voice into it, but I sure as hell made sure there's a mind in there, somewhere."

"Ah, so you're useless?" Taranza snarked.

"Not exactly; in fact, I have contributed the most to the project itself, my ideas being-"

"You get that's _sarcasm_, yes?" Taranza deadpanned.

"Absolutely not, no," Novus apologetically responded.

"CAN I LAND A DIRECT SHOT, GO-" Magolor started.

Novus took time to inspect how Magolor handled the weapons system.

"...Why are you mashing? You should be holding it down."

"...What?" Magolor stopped.

"Here; ah, god sake; yup, hold it long. Flip this…" Novus flipped a small lever, as a blaring of sounds activated.

"Fire!" Novus commanded, and a star bullet fired across space, aiming for the butterfly.

"You missed," Magolor informed the weird man.

"Wait for it."

A few seconds passed. A few more, wasted.

And then the bullet _curved_.

"What the hell!? I could'a done that the _entire time_!?" Magolor said, gobsmacked.

Taranza sighed. "I thought you knew this ship, being the pilot and all."

"This wasn't in the manual, Taranza!"

Novus allowed a smile to himself. "There, easy! Now we kick back and relax!"

The ship immediately got caught in another barrage of fire.

And it nearly hit everything. It did hit a lot of things though.

"_Kick back and relax-_ you're a fool!" Magolor yelled, as more alarms blared after the attack.

"Well, er-"

"We're far from done!" Magolor stated, as he piloted the ship ever closer to Morpho Marx.

A barrage of stars were flung onto them and yet it was dodged beautifully by Magolor, who lifted the ship up and crashed the entire thing on top of Marx.

A howl rang across the field of space, as Magolor quickly got out and turned around, the ship beckoning to his will.

Magolor lifted his hand from the controls, as the ship began to autopilot again.

Marx began to shoot out his bullets in a much more frantic manner, almost at random, as the field began to become covered with bullet hell.

Taranza noted an opening in the seemingly random pattern. "Marx isn't shooting any below us, just lower the ship and dash for it."

The ship acknowledged that advice and ran itself at incredible speeds, as the space closed and Marx was hit with a face full of _Lor Starcutter_, the mast nailing the butterfly jester.

Kirby winced.

Partizanne looked at the screens. "...Is he okay?"

"After getting smashed by a boat? Probably not. Then again, we did shoot him. A lot."

Flamberge scoffed. "He's Marx; the guy could handle it. Honestly, if he gets back up again, I won't be too surprised."

"Don't forget that Morpho's still in there, too. I can see the similarities," Kirby mentioned. "Damn. You deduced that?" Taranza queried.

"I sorta did, yeah," Kirby commented, slightly proud.

"Wait, really? No wonder I saw butterfly wings."

"Then… Marx is still alive in there!" Kirby said, hopeful.

"Wow. That's sick. Hey, Magolor; what about inviting one more passenger on board?"

"...Magolor?" Francisca started.

Novus stared at the screens.

Magolor stared at the screens.

Kirby turned to truly look at Marx, to see the jester, his wings unfurling, returning to their original shape, before going black, no longer rainbow-colored, as teeny tiny butterflies shone and shimmered out of him, floating everywhere.

"No. That can't be. MARX…!"

Morpho was gone. But Marx was dead.

Kirby turned to Magolor. "Bring him here. Bring him here! He must be still alive! He can't be dead. Sometimes, he does this!"

Magolor did not turn to face the puffball, who now had the beginnings of a few tears.

"Sometimes, he does this. Just; please!"

Francisca turned away.

"P-please…"

Nobody faced Kirby.

* * *

They brought the ice-cold body onboard. Marx was not breathing.

It was confirmed; the jester was dead.

Novus began with a sigh. "And here I thought the man who wished to live was dead. And I was true."

Kirby gripped Novus. "Don't act like this is all true. Please, just please…"

Kirby was trying his best to help Marx. To help Marx in continuing to live. To help Marx.

But Marx was not there to recieve or respond to Kirby's pleas. Tears were now freely rolling from Kirby.

"This is too sudden. Too sudden…"

Taranza could only stand in silence as Kirby started to wail.

Francisca was ushered out by her two much more matured sisters.

"Condolences, Kirby," Flamberge hugged the pink ball.

The pink ball was ignorant of the world outside.

Inside was a wreck of a living being.

A person, who he had grown to like _again_ was dead; the mischievous yet likable Marx, gone.

Magolor faced away from Kirby. He knew not to intrude.

An alert distracted him. King Dedede's voice rang through the nearby speaker. "Hey, so, this was Susie's ideah; bu' we've followed ya-"

"Hey, king? Shut up for a minute, will you?" Magolor somberly drawled.

"Hey- wha- Ya' can't ju-"

The speaker was turned off.

A few moments later, it turned back on again. "Magolor. Don't be such a di-"

That was Susie. Magolor immediately muted her.

His friend needed the silence.

Better than anyone, at this time.

Magolor could only pilot the ship closer to their goal.

The key to stop it all.

The original Jamba base.

Kirby started to beg him to at least pick up the body.

Magolor ignored the puffball. They were too close. Too close to the end. Too close to the goal.

_Too close._

* * *

The mourning only lasted until they had landed on the planet, and even then, the crew was still in a bad mood. Novus didn't even know how to interact with a crew this bad, being the outlier of the group. The newcomer.

Francisca could only comfort Kirby, after being told by both her sisters.

Despite them totally not needing to. She could've handled it.

Despite all that, the group marched on, the body of Marx still on the Lor, as a fellow ship landed as well, with multiple robots climbing out, complete with Susie and King Dedede.

Taranza himself was in a similar mood, though it peaked his interest to see the two climb out. He couldn't keep his mind on the forefront though…

Was all that talk about contenders just a lie?

Morpho had mentioned it was a test.

Marx had died. That wasn't a test. Or was it…?

This was more troublesome than he thought. A particularly nasty theory popped up. Was it a test for Marx or a test for them? And… what about the prophecy? Didn't it need Marx, too?

All this is confusing.

"Your shit stank, rat!"

"Lady, you curse more than a sailor at sea."

Taranza turned his head back at the other group.

Daroach was there.

"What the hell did you say!?"

"Lady; sincerely, piss off."

Taranza smirked. Well, at least someone is on happy terms with this adventure. Daroach definitely smiled there.

"**I am not dead.**"

Taranza froze. He had heard that correctly.

...Did he?

"...What?" the spider mumbled.

"**Indeed, the test was for you. The trickster child was doomed to fail from the beginning. You are more important in the long run, child of light."**

Taranza scowled. "How dare you say that Marx was unworthy of this. _You broke my friend's heart. __**Into pieces."**_

"_**You are more important in the long run. Marx's story was done a long time ago. He had his redemption, and he did it well. He had no qualms.**_"

"You didn't care about him at all, did you?"

Shamelessly, Morpho confirmed that. "**No. I did not. It was for the greater good.**"

"Fuck you, Morpho."

"**When will you learn? I saw his thoughts; they were negating your eventual progress. Thus, I took my chances after Andromeda busted her job.**"

"You gods are one-sided, so blind to us mortals," Taranza stated. "You have no right in deciding the right and wrong."

"**What's done is done. Marx walked the path laid out before him. There was nothing else I could do to fix the body of his.**"

Taranza webbed up the butterfly.

"What's done is done, eh? Pah."

Grabbing the cocoon of web, Taranza smashed it to the ground beneath him, killing the lone butterfly.

"**I have eyes everywhere, lives everywhere. You cannot kill me.**"

"I know. But I sure as hell can do _that_," Taranza pointed to the dead scout.

"**True enough. The power of being a god does not prevent me from that end. In the meantime, however, I really am weak. I need to wait another couple centuries again… A bother."**

"You killed a friend of mine. You think that's a bother."

Morpho stopped for a minute, almost stunned.

"...**Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. We higher beings still do have good intentions, however misguided. I am sincerely sorry for your loss."**

"Ha! Go be sincere in hell. You're a terrible person, to have done such a thing in the first place," Taranza spat.

"**I seek challengers. I do not know if they will pass or not, but challenge them I will. It is in my nature to do so. I cannot help it."**

"Curb your nature, then. Leave me be now; or, you can apologize at all the others. I'm sure you get one hell of a beating," Taranza sneered.

A sigh came from the deity.

"**Well enough. I owe it. Without a proper body or host, I really am retired here, at least until the next regeneration. I'll head to them.**"

"Good. Fuck off, will you?"

A certain jester watched this all happen. He smiled, and a second later, he was gone from all prying eyes.

* * *

Black.

Darkness, seeping all around.

_Black._

The dirty, dirty colour, crawling from within, trying to be free.

Kirby was in shock.

Inner turmoil, roiled and roiled.

Kirby was having a panic attack.

_No. Marx is not dead. I didn't fail a third time…!_

_No._

_No._

_No._

_No!_

_NO!_

_**NO!**_

Kirby's eyes were glazed over. GGlazed glazed over, like a dead man walking, hope glistening, but waning, as the utter fool that was the Kirby a second ago disappeared.

In its place was a mess; truly, a _mess_, even reaching the state of his mind before-

No.

It surpassed it; truly a breakdown from one of the legendary heroes and protectors of Dreamland.

It hurt so much to see failure.

To see costly mistakes.

After consecutive successes, the first failure hurt.

The second nearly tore his heart out. The third ripped it out completely.

The shining, pink heart, was beating, beating, beating.

Beating, with a slow tock here and there, so heavy on his chest.

Heavy, heavy, heavy.

All the weight pushed him down deeper.

Kirby peered out of his eyes.

The world seemed so small. Unimportant.

And yet the sounds of the beating heart persisted. Calls and responses never reached the puffball, unresponsive as everything remained black.

Blotched to hell, black was the new colour of choice inside. The heart was the only unaffected piece left, the one not strung upon the intricate stage of the world.

It floated there helplessly, yet with tranquility, as it bobbed up and down according to the ticks and tocks of Kirby's own heart.

Everything became closer. Close, close…

The walls shrunk some more. Definitely closer.

The eyes, enlarging, bigger and better-

And presto; Kirby was there.

Unresponsive, helpless, stranded in this hell of a void, running for who knows what and feeling like they should go off themselves.

But Kirby was long gone, long, _long gone._

"A pitiful fool."

The voice, calm and collected. Yet it rang like mad, like bells; strung across the entire world.

The bird made its descent, ever closer to the nonexistence.

"A failure of creation. To think, the amount of sense in this…"

"UNACCEPTABLE!" it roared, as its claws grew, Kirby still running and screaming. No way was he going to inhale that. There was no conceivable way to beat that.

It all ticked and tocked, and everything was gone.

The black remained, as it always was. Something, however, was new.

A white being, splotched in this inky sea of darkness.

Mesmerizing, to say the least.

Kirby stopped running. Turned, to face the creature.

It had a face. Two ovals, one circle.

Eerily similar to Kirby's own.

Two hearts appeared. One pink, the other purple.

Now, all together now.

Two purple, two beings.

…

"Kirby's not responding…!" Francisca increasingly panicked. The puffball had fallen on the planet's ground. Fallen; and he can't get up. Lost, from the telltale sights in his eyes.

"...Shit. Quick, we need to head to the base. There must be something of value there!" Magolor stated.

"There isn't… actually," Francisca added, despairingly.

"Ah. Well, we've come this far. If we back down now, it'll all be for naught," Magolor pressed on.

Francisca looked at Magolor like he was insane, suggesting such an idea. "Kirby's injured in the head here, and you're planning to leave it be? What if it's serious!?"

"Sister-"

"None of that! I don't want to hear it!"

Taranza sighed. "You know, we better get moving. I'm sorry, but it's for the better."

"**Did I catch you all on a bad time?**" Morpho intruded.

Zan Partizanne instantly went alert. "WHERE ARE YOU!? I want to stab this spear of mine… maybe not… but still YES!"

"**I am but a voice, the figment of the deity,**" Morpho responded. He took a cursory glance of the situation, and immediately blanched. "**Bad timing.** **I should leave.**"

Taranza tsked. "And to think you nearly apologized. I would like to still hear that, please."

Some people in the group turned to face Taranza.

It was then that King Dedede caught up to them. "Ey, sorry I'm supah late. Been tryin' ta' do something wit' crazy gal over ther'."

It was also then that Dedede caught sight of the haunted looks. "H-hey, what's wit' all the faces? Can't I- wait, why did ya' hang up on me? Was it my sexy voice?"

Flamberge curtly and sharply quipped, "Sincerely, bugger off."

"Bah, tough crowd."

"Shut up and go, dammit!" Taranza jeered.

"Okay, fine- jeez."

King Dedede somberly walked away, wondering what could've gotten all of them in such a bad mood.

"Back to the topic at hand: We're too close to the goal to go back off now," Magolor prompted.

"You could've been more empathetic to Kirby, you know! You're… you're…" Francisca argued.

Magolor backed off. He didn't know how to handle this. Put on a show and run with it, or…

Taranza glanced at him. A signal of support.

Flamberge, meanwhile, inched closer to her sister.

This… tension, wasn't something they needed now.

They were so close to the end goal. To off the big bad and go home.

But now…. why were emotions getting in the way…?

Magolor squeezed his hand. With an ebb of a smile, he walked past Francisca and to the base's insides.

That mask soon cracked, as he heavily shivered and shook, on the hinges of his wits as Taranza held back the feisty red mage from blasting him to bits.

As Magolor walked off, another ship descended down into the atmosphere.

Meta Knight's battalion was here. on the decks of the flying ship, was the ruins of the Squeak Squad's ship.

...All this was not part of the plan at all, but the help from all the people gathered on the planet might just be of help.

* * *

Taranza had his hands full holding a pissed off Flamberge back, as well as preventing a crying Francisca from continuing to cry.

It did not work out for him.

Instead, Flamberge grabbed onto him, and dragged him off.

"An odd sight, hm?" Susie commented, watching the fiasco roll out.

"Yeh, well, in our cases, everythin's an odd sigh' at this poin'."

The whirring of machinery came from above them, as Susie and Dedede watched on.

"And to think they botched their own ship and _still_ brought it anyway."

The Squeak Squad's ship was not in a presentable state. The wood had broken off, not only at important joints but also everywhere else.

Most importantly, is the amount of nagging the Squeak Squad did to bring the whole ship with them.

"The firs' pirates in the black sea, o' course I want to get my ship there!" Daroach had said at the time.

Ten hours later and a load of fixes, they had turned their own ship into a space vessel...

Which completely failed as a strong wind wrecked their entire boat.

It was just an average wind, too, and yet that was enough to topple the vessel.

Daroach was understandably mad at it, though he quickly got work on a second vessel.

The mouse captain was certainly an eccentric one, trying to build a ship with scrap.

The second try was even more painful. With an approach in explosives this time, they had essentially created a massive firework; of which was detonated within minutes and blew a hole straight in the castle courtyard.

Nevertheless, they packed the first ship and left for space with Susie's corporation.

Not exactly a sweet gondola ride like Susie had hoped.

The amount of chattering in the whole place was annoying enough, but multiply that by two and you've got twice an annoyance.

She didn't even get a wink of sleep last night, what's with the party hosted in the kitchen.

Susie groaned, naturally.

"Ah, honestly, I think we're goin' to be just fine," Dedede reassured her.

"With a whole gang of misfits like this, are you _quite sure?_"

"Absolutely not, Susie! No, instead we'll just have to rely on each other."

Susie started to walk off in her own pace, parting with an insult. "You're irredeemable, Dedede."

"Hey- wha' was all tha' for! Wait, come back-"

Meta Knight glanced at the situation from the upper balconies of his ship, shrugged and went downwards to exit. Galacta Knight did the same. Part of their training, duel, and subsequent fight was on the planet, after all. Who would deny the landscape?

Novus simply remained in a stillshock, unable to comprehend the group dynamics, being a latecomer to the party.

The sisters were tense, with one on the fringes of worry.

Daroach readied his squad and pushed onward.

All of them had different reasons being here. Some to help, others for their own interests. In the end, everyone was there, hands ready and feet walking towards the big great bastille.

* * *

_**Morpho Marx, Parasitic Tribulation**_

_This Marx had been __**overtaken**_ _by Morpho, who wanted a good challenge, setting up a trial for our heroes in the form of a __**borrowed**_ _body, __**modified**_ _to its will. Unfortunately, the body itself seemed to have deceased, which poses multiple questions to our heroes…_

_On the conditions of this so-called deity, or the __**morals**_ _it abides by. Nevertheless, it is the __**final frontier**__, before our multiple heroes reach the __**zenith**_ _of their adventure._

* * *

AN: Writing this was a major pain.

I'm sorry for the wait, but writing that Marx battle was painful in more ways than one. It certainly drawled on, and it didn't help that I didn't quite know how to exactly write such a scene, mainly due to the unfamiliarity of the ship's capabilities, other than some copy and paste attacks from Return to Dreamland.

Then again, most of this fanfic had been nothing but improvisation and a jumble of ideas, so I'm not too surprised.

With that, I'd like to part with a good luck and a goodbye. Here's to the next one!


	31. Chapter 23 - Absolute Arrival

**Star's Allies**

**Chapter 23 - Absolute Arrival**

* * *

Magolor dove right into the building. Most of it clearly abandoned, it was crystal clear that the enemy was behind all this.

Francisca helped to shuffle Kirby along as the group traversed on with the ruined hallways.

Partizanne especially proved to be an extremely useful guide.

"I am the ONE! That knows most of the facility from top to bottom, you see. Experience the wonderful Partizanne, the glory of her knowledge!"

Well, maybe not _that_ useful.

Still, they pressed on, with Taranza on guard in case something popped up. Technically, he was the only one to show it on the outside. In truth, all of their nerves were ready and prepared. They had anticipated an enemy somewhere within; it was simply too natural, what's with the layout and the chase beforehand.

"It's… silent," Francisca remarked.

Taranza responded with a mumbled "Mhm."

"It's… waaaay too silent… _sis_…?"

Flamberge, feeling her hand tugged on, looked at Francisca.

"I feel like something bad happened here," the ice mage told her.

Flamberge sighed. "No worries, Fran. All will be well in the end."

**RUMBLE**

And a beat profoundly strong bursts through the walls.

This… strange beat continued, in a systematic manner, quite literally to a beat.

Magolor tensed. "Get ready, yeah? I think it's close."

Taranza laughed. "You think? It's definitely waiting for us, for sure. Why is there the possibility of not encountering the giant monster?"

"I'm trying to not get us jinxed by Mother Luck here-"

The ceiling broke apart, as the rumbling intensified.

"See? I told you!"

Magolor continued to berate Taranza, whilst the other group tried to catch up with them, their pants of fatigue sounding resoundly across the facility, beaten only by the giant beats circulating around the air.

_THUMP_

_THUMP_

The beats never ceased. Truly, it was a wonder, as it steadily hummed across the facility.

The group had approached a door, one especially close to crumbling. It was a grand door, seemingly towering over all of them, adorned with the symbol of Jamba. Royal red and gold covered the edges, as pink tinted the centre of the grand entrance.

Behind Taranza, King Dedede ran up to them, Susie sighing as they caught up.

"Hey; haaaaaaaah- we finally caugh' up to you guys…"

Taranza turned around, his hands twitching from nervousness. "Good to meet you here. We should regroup before we head in," he whispered.

Susie gave a stare at the king before entertaining herself by watching the small talk rush over the entire group. The few robots she had taken with her will help. The mecha they carried will be especially useful to her. The Mark 4 should do well.

Meta Knight jogged up to them, as Galacta readied his lance. "Ah, to see the glory of battle. What a wonderful sight it will be," Galacta Knight mused.

"There's no more time to be a-wasting, I think. We should head on in," Meta Knight offered.

"No, wait- we're missing someone," Magolor mumbled.

"..._boss, you sure you're heading in there with 'em_?"

The faint mumbling from the pirates a corridor away was present.

"Course I am! Pirates' honour," Daroach chuckled.

They presumably turned the corner, and Daroach was there, with his crew the last to arrive.

Magolor smiled. "Well, we're all here now."

"And you're quite sure we're not missing someone? I could be missing, you know," Taranza snarked.

"...But you're here."

Taranza had to facepalm on that one. Sometimes, the jovial mage did not get the sense of humor he was exuding.

Truly, must it be-

The door creaked open. The sound chilled Francisca to the bone, noticeable by her shivering and discomfort due to shock.

Zan Partizanne held her sisters close.

Magolor took a leading step forward, as the others followed. "We're _seriously_ doing this?" Taranza questioned.

"Definitely. No reason to turn back now."

The room they entered was a circular one, the road winding till the centre, a shadow of a being standing in the middle.

The room was particularly big, and any attacks prematurely fired would be noticed immediately.

They took small steps, as they snuck around and around the circular room.

Their footsteps light and their breaths caught silently, the large group slowly made their way up the spiralling platform, up a massive 'core' of sorts, a giant pink heart, glowing ever so slightly as it floated, suspended by invisible forces from the ceiling and the floor, as it thumped, thumped, thumped.

"Well, if that ain't scary, I don't know what was," Taranza remarked.

Kirby's eyes glistened over the soft light emitted by the heart. They still look unfavourable to the outside world.

Francisca went to try and grasp it. Partizanne immediately gripped her hand. "No, take caution," she said.

Francisca lowered her hand and backed off.

Kirby hobbled along with her, as his reclusiveness shined along with the pink, giant heart.

Magolor contemplated. "Hmm. Well, I suppose the only way to do this would be to destroy it then, hm?"

"I'll 'ave a piece of tha'!" King Dedede volunteered, swinging his giant mallet to and fro, as he built up momentum.

Within seconds, a flying hammer was brought down upon the heart, a resounding squelch booming from the impact.

King Dedede pulled his mallet away from the eldritch abomination, and inspected the damage. "Huh," he mumbled.

There was, infact, no damage at all. It's as if all of it was negated, the hit simply never taking place in the first place.

King Dedede then turned around, smiled like a thousand suns, beaming with joy. "Hey, got any other plans?"

The effect was ruined by a slap courtesy of Susie, who scoffed and sent her hand flying at the penguin's face. "Never take things like this seriously, you…"

She then went on a long tangent, which extended to a couple of minutes as best, with the rest of the group uncomfortably watching this lady ream out a king.

"Aye lass; _what the hell_," Daroach commented as Susie finally stopped.

"Needed to get that out of my system, see. Anyone else willing to smack that heart to bits?"

A hand rose up. "We will," volunteered the sisters, as three elemental weapons were thrown at the heart.

A clear TING was heard, as the tips hit their mark; and yet it was to no avail, as the heart remained unaffected, the weapons bouncing off and clanking on the ground.

It was notable, that the tips of the weapons no longer had their respective elemental colors.

Flamberge looked at their weapons. "Ah, great. Well-"

The air grew hot, cold, and jittery at the same time, as a blast rang from the heart, blowing out a ring of elemental attacks.

"Duck, duck!" Taranza yelled, as it hit him full force.

The spider was blown back, as the group crowded near the heart were pushed all the way to the base of the spiral slopes.

Some, who were not as near, heeded the advice thoroughly.

"Boss!" one of the mice yelled.

Daroach rolled back to stand, as he responded, "I'm fine! Are any of ye' hurt?"

"Nay, boss!" came the yell from the Squeaks.

"Wonderful!" the captain exclaimed.

"Ahh. Anyone hur' ove' here?" Dedede asked out of goodwill.

"I'm fine. Probably."

Taranza deadpanned. "Mate, you're always _fine_."

"Finer than my wine," Magolor shot back.

"You don't drink wine!"

"Can't say I can't-"

"What about Kirby? I laid her down as I threw my ice..." Francisca suddenly pressed.

She paled. "Check on Kirby, quick."

"Lady, he'll probably be fine. He's Kirby," Taranza suggested.

"But what if-"

A pink, round ball stood up, his figure clearly seen by those below him.

He stood nearest to the heart.

Taranza exaggeratingly pointed. "See? _Fine_."

The heart stopped glowing. The sudden chill swept through their bodies.

"Okaaay, _might've_ spoken too soon."

Magolor facepalmed. "Taranza, you and I need to have a long talk about jinxing events like this."

The heart changed colors, as the glowy pink went to just pink to a menacing purple. "Yeeeeaaah, about that talk…"

The heart soon detached from its position, as it flew into Kirby.

A few shouts of Kirby echoed through the facility.

It became prevalent why the shouts turned to screams soon after.

Kirby bloated. Full on bloated, as if he couldn't take another meal. His arms and feet retracted into his body, leaving him in a giant ball-like state. A mask appeared out of nowhere, as feathers flew from all over. Within seconds, a bird came into appearance, with Kirby right inside it. It grew from tiny to small to big to very big, as the head broke through the ceiling.

Accompanied by the sudden transformation was a chilling message.

"Hate. Order."

This one word repeated itself across the room, as all who can see felt true, genuine fear.

"_Chaos_. Overrule."

This other word became clear after Kirby gained arms and legs, a small robe-like cloth acting like pants, and gold structures pierced straight into his hands, chest, back, and head.

And yet, Kirby still grew. This huge mammoth turned gigantic, as the feet crushed what remained of the old altar.

Below him, were people panicking over the fact that they had just lost one of themselves along with the revival of the so-called god.

Novus could only gawk in surprise from all this. This wasn't expected. Termina isn't like this.

Magolor bit his lips, as Taranza readied his weapon of choice.

Nearly everyone else was stunned, except for a select few, who chose to gawk instead.

As 'Kirby' grew taller, so did the mysterious beat. It soon turned into _words, _however; spat straight out of this behemoth.

"**Ah, wonderful. A new body. Order has already broken down. Prophecies, lost to time.**"

With a swift turn, Termina stood tall above them all, his head peeking through the ceiling of the base. The ceiling stood no chance, shattering upon impact to the growing deity.

"You have got to be joking," Taranza muttered.

"Yar set too many flags too damn fast, you idiot," Daroach bluntly told him.

"Well I'm _sorry_ my _powers _in jinxing us became oh so _useful_ in the past few days or so! What could be worse? What COULD _go _worse!?" The arachnid ranted.

"Matey, I'm a pirate, and even then I don't set this many flags all at once. Yar horrendous."

Magolor groaned.

The building shook once. Twice. Even thrice.

Termina took a step. And another. And yet, another. He confidently strode across the ceilings and floor, breaking and creating rubble underneath.

Susie drawled, "I'd suggest we; oh, I don't know; _run_?"

Dedede agreed rather quickly, and in an especially nervous manner, by nodding his head.

The facility began to collapse, as the Squeaks squeaked and the remaining few brave enough to watch the building on them, diverting the falling yet broken ceiling away from them.

"Everyone okay?" Taranza redundantly asked, despite having a set of two (or is it four?) eyes, all of which are capable of seeing quite perfectly.

"Yes, yes, we're fine here. Anyone hurt?" Magolor queried curiously.

A Squeak jumped up and down, vaguely gesturing at its' nibbled ear.

"Past injuries don't count. Aaaaanyone else? No?"

Magolor sighed. "Fine then… we just had a building collapse on us, and that god or deity or whatever leaving on us."

"Man, what a coward, am I right?" Taranza attempted to crack a joke.

By the way of the stares of people watching him, they didn't get it or internally cringed so badly that they wanted to puke.

"Man, tough crowd…"

"I feel ya', buddy…"

Taranza and King Dedede shared their failures at jokes. It was quite bad.

"Okay… then-"

And so, the giant arena appeared out of nowhere, replacing the facility.

"What the hell!? You can't just make things appear from outta' nowhere!" Dedede complained, once he saw the so-called 'ground'.

"**No order. Also affects the expected. I value unexpectedness. Your existences block that path. Sooner or later, I will raise this barrier on my own, so you can feel the power of Termina, all by yourself.**"

Termina straightened his bird-like mask, harboring no emotion. Only a calculating stare to the deep and far reaches of space.

"**Of course, the power has its limits. I will win, of course; objective not immediate. I should have eliminated your way of leaving now.**"

The few who owned ships paced back to try and get into their ships. As for those who don't have such a comfortable and enjoyable space, living in that fool's pit is not a good idea.

Magolor stood by, watching the bird's every move. Susie similarly stood her ground, her ship coming to _her_ instead.

"**Ah, here's the walk back.**"

The sky changed. From a black darker than black, it had changed to a surreal blue and purple mixture, with white dots littering the entire top.

Magolor widened his eyes at the sight behind the bird, clenched his fists, scowled at the sky, and tactfully ran back to his ship. Silent was his voice, as he zoomed across the broken building that was the Jamba base.

Taranza, who watched his friend go, returned his gaze to the dominating figure that was Termina, and followed suit.

"Holy damn in the name of Popsta'…"

Susie arched her eyebrows at the quip Dedede threw. Dedede threw a familiar face at Dedede, to which the king blandly stated, "Hey, I can have some of my moments too, ya' know?"

A sigh came from Susie. "You're a mess. My ride's late…"

Susie checked her surroundings. "It should be able to just _fly in_…"

"What are ya' waiting for, anyway? You should'a evacuated wit' some others back thea'."

"I am not a woman to be taken lightly, you know?"

Dedede quickly waved his hand back and forth. "Oh, nonono. I don' mean it like tha'! It's jus' tha'... You know; your ride isn't coming? Like, at all? We're dealin' with some lunatic _god_ over here, so _of course_ there had to be _some_ trick up the guy's sleeve!"

"I will repeat what I said, before." Susie pointed a finger at Dedede, clearly accentuating _him._

"You're a mess."

"Yea', I know it all already… you still repeat 'em anyways…"

"**Preparation done, turf mine. Clear,**" Termina boomed, as the building fully collapsed, turning to scraps and dust.

"**Reform, into perfection, please. And wait.**"

The Squeak Squad were gone long ago, following their captain. The sisters were still there, silent in melancholic expressions at the thought of what they were conditioned to worship.

The knights had already piloted their ship, from the sounds of things, too. Novus was running off following the Halcandran to his ship, so he wasn't there, too.

A whirr of an engine came by.

Susie's ride came through.

"Ah, there it is."

Dedede gave her a questioning look.

"You invested in _anothe' _one?"

A shiny, big, and extra sexy mech suit flew near them, as Susie hopped on

"This is the sixth one. Ah, here we go. All good." Turning to Dedede, she mentioned, "We don't count the hundreds of failures. They don't count."

Dedede facepalmed. "The cost-to-efficiency usage doesn't even _work_..."

To that, Susie had only two words.

"_Shut up_."

Dedede sighed. "Fair enough." Behind him, a fleet of ships went by. "Ah, the cavalry. _Finally_."

"Perfect. Now we can kick ass."

The two bickered their way as Dedede jumped on the mech ("You're too fat!" Susie yelled, as Dedede squawked and immediately went on a tangent about how he's _plump_), leaving the three sisters, stepping on the rubble of their past home.

"Flamberge…" Francisca muttered.

"I know."

Zan Partizanne wistfully looked forward.

"All we can do is wait for the truest of heroes to do their work, then? We're not suited to battle _that._"

"And abandon our _friends?_" Francisca retorted. "No thanks. Keep that plan to yourself, sister. I'll _at least _be of some use to them."

Flamberge extended a hand out to her sister. "Francisca…"

"Just… let me leave, okay? _Please_. Kirb needs me. She needs us."

Francisca shuffled nervously. "Aaand… I want to repay her, too. For her stories, and for her friendship with me."

Flamberge smiled. Zan Partizanne can't help but chuckle.

"You've grown, sister."

* * *

"**We commence the change. Reform, once again.**"

The planet flattened, from a spherical object to a disc, gravity falling downwards.

"**Perfection. Turn.**"

And the disc rippled, red falling out from its sides, with a shell of a structure left behind, a glassy texture of a disc as the product.

"**Perfection. Turn.**"

The air shimmered, as it enhanced the world around it, turning the sky into a mad festival of shimmering lights and noisy colors.

"**Perfection. Tur-**"

A star shot of the Lor Starcutter cannon.

A yell from Novus cemented it was their doing.

"We fight! Fight against this behemoth of _god!_ No, a **facsimile** of god!"

Rallying was one of his many talents as a teacher, after all, despite all these years.

An 'aye' of cries could be heard from the neighbouring ships, Waddle Dees and Squeaks ready to fill their respective ship's weapons.

"**Aye! Hoist them cannonballs over yonder!**" came Daroach's flamboyant and over the top scream. Nevertheless, it worked with his crew.

"Alright, men. **Let's give them hell!**" was Dedede's shorter rally.

"Wow, you suck at this," Susie remarked.

"Ooooooh, thanks," Dedede drawled, sarcasm dripping from his voice. This snark and sarcasm _cannot _be good for his health. Maybe a local visit to the castle's therapists may work after the battle…

Anyhoo, the two ships fired their cannons and heavy machinery. Inside a cockpit, Meta Knight gave a thumbs up and Galacta Knight flipped the switch.

A massive railgun hoisted itself on the top of the Halberd, as the few Waddle Dees standing on it slipped off from the sudden appearance of said weapon.

The Waddle Dees on the deck were wincing at their plight.

"Fire at the eye. Common weak point, I'd say."

"Ah, the tricks betwixt us all, nay?"

"Galacta, please just fire it."

Galacta gave a mockery of a salute. "On it, comrade."

And the laser that came cleaved through the air, aiming for the right eye on the mask of the beast.

Magolor and Taranza, seeing that, sent their respective colored dark and light balls at the eagle of a god.

"**Interruption? Kill the interrupters, so I may not become the interuptee. Wing.**"

And the wings spread out, eyes sprouting from all over his body, with Termina dodging all of the attacks that came for him, flying.

"Oh damn!" was Taranza's response.

"No, wait. There's a new weak spot!" Magolor quickly pointed out. "Those eyes scattered around his body! It must be some sort of air surveillance, but it's a definite weak spot!"

Hearing that, Taranza relayed the information to the rest of their fleet. "**Aim for the new eyes! Magolor said so!** **He's also very s**-"

Magolor muffled the spider before he said anything compromising.

"**What he said!**" was what he eventually backed up with.

Ignoring the many eyes of Another Dimension, focused his sights on the giant.

But his focus was wavering. He could not get the images, the sensations of that one moment in time where he was abandoned, split in half forcefully by a Kirby who was tearing up at the sight.

No, no… Purge those thoughts out, now…

Unwavering focus is all we need. All we need to win!

Saving Kirby is top priority. Because he has once saved me.

With a renewed resolve after that quick bout of trouble, Magolor had the ship fire a volley of stars. If only he knew the ship was like this from the beginning.

Novus smiled at his creation serving so well in the current situation. At least he had an impact on this new generation. Or, one of them, anyway. Maybe a close descendant, or a far-off one. No matter; Magolor still had his gift of piloting, and he knew the Halcandran would succeed.

Victory was in his thoughts. He could calculate it. Victory was imminent.

A beam of surging light came right at them, chipping off part of the mast and the small left wing. Lor was in pain and very, very injured. It lowered itself gently, as to not make its passengers panic.

Too bad Taranza was already panicking. Magolor, on the other hand, scrambled to try and land his heavily injured starship on the disc-like ground. A stronger volley came from the three remaining ships on air in response.

Crashlanding again, Magolor coughed, and picked up Taranza and Novus on the way out. They were approached by the sisters, worried of their condition.

They had landed fairly well, honestly. Close to the three on ground level, too.

"See? We can help now!"

"Yes, yes, I know, I know…" Zan Partizanne chimed in, relenting, yet smiling.

* * *

Daroach was angered, sure. A part of their fleet was shot down like nothing. And Termina had only shot one attack, too. Just one. And it caused a ship to fall.

It was too quick to even measure and one hit will send them down. Thus, the solution is…

"FIRE! FIRE, FIRE FIRE!"

...Become an arsonist! No, wait, that's wrong.

His main commanders did their jobs well. Looks like the doc kept out of the way though. Better for him anyway.

The flurry of cannonballs made their way to the guy, sure, but they weren't hitting their targets very well. Sure, it _might_ hit once in a while, but they'll run out of cannonballs first before dealing mortal damage. _Which_ is why he's playing distraction while the real damage comes from Susie's rockets and Meta Knight's railgun laser.

At this point in the battle, at least three eyes were hurt, from what he could tell. They were closed, not open, so that had to be some sign of some sort. The speed the bird went through was fast. Really fast.

He caught a glimpse of it though. And he had enough confidence to relay that information.

Currently, the remaining eyes were on the back and its forehead. As soon as the bird turns, they are going to pummel it as hard as they can with their current setup of combined weapons.

With ten flaps, Termina swiftly banked, and Susie's ship jolted down along with the Squeak's own (seafaring) ship.

"Fire!"

And it rained like hell.

Meta's laser came piercing through, and the rockets timed itselves to fly and hit its target.

Their cannonballs were a distraction, yes, but the amount of them made it a worthy distraction.

The back eye closed up, confirmed by a scout of his. Good. Now all that was left is the forehead eye.

Or was it the mask eye?

It's not important right now. All they needed to do was to hit the thing with another thing.

Simple enough. Rinse and repeat, as they say. Adapt, sure, but stick to your roots.

And this was their roots.

Termina charged them head on, intending to take the two floating (and one not floating) ships down with both of his massive wings.

It provided them with a great opportunity, though. And if they miss…

Well, he'd be experiencing the famed locker itself.

"**Fire**!" rang through the airspace, as the giant laser fired and rockets pummeled the mask's eye.

All five hit, they shattered simultaneously, as Termina fell down, skidding on the ground.

Stopped by friction, the beast appeared dead. He was clearly not moving, and not a rise in his chest informed them that he was breathing.

They… did it.

"Yattaaaa!" Daroach yelled out.

Dedede raised his arm up, befitting a king basking in glory of a victory well fought.

Meta Knight rose and took his Galactica from its sheath, and re-sheathing it, signifying a battle done. Galacta imitated the act.

Down on the ground, Novus smirked at this outcome, all fated to happen from the beginning.

Approaching the body of the supposedly dead being, it shrunk down to a much more smaller size.

"**Ah, now that was unpleasant, wasn't it?**"

All of them froze in their steps. The air became chilling.

"**Truly, that was wonderful. Wonderful… Now, imagine the fight, ten times harder… because I'm smaller.**"

Termina walked forward, his shrunken self still towering over the six on the ground

"**You also risk hitting your teammates down here, hm?**"

Daroach flinched upon hearing that. They were effectively blocked from firing off any attacks from the air this way. But wasn't Termina dead?

"W-why are you not dead!?" Taranza exclaimed in surprise and confusion.

"**Dear child of the light, I am a deity. I do not need such material things to live. Air and food are meaningless.**"

Termina straightened his lopsided mask, slightly loose after the laser and missiles hitting it.

"**You, too, will become meaningless. Now, enjoy your stay in this world for some moments longer, before you are erased. Then…**"

With a sounding leap, Termina flew to them at such a fast speed that the air rippled around him. Closing the distance, he yelled out his last words before the new battle.

"**LET IT BE KNOWN THAT YOU ARE MEANINGLESS!**"

That was when black oozed out of his orifices, covering himself with a black coat, like fresh new paint.

Now, he was Void Termina.

* * *

_**Termina, God of Chaos**_

_Typically known as the __**antithesis**_ _to Andromeda, this buff fellow is quite powerful, in his ability to cause __**chaos**__, literally __**altering**_ _order to __**chaos**__._

_As such, he is __**seemingly**_ _strong and __**without**_ _weakness, however it's his __**motivation**_ _to act, to make chaos happen, that hinders him. It is also worth pointing out that his attacks as a giant have __**longer recharges**_ _due to the __**power**_ _needed for the attack to work, because of him being bigger. _

_Some also may say he is the progenitor and original creator of the __**Jamba**_ _Heart, as a representation of __**corruption**_ _and __**chaos**_ _out of a whim._

* * *

AN: Yeah, about the upload (and the big gap between chapters).

Motivation is something that drives me to update. As it turns out, I wrote about 5% of this chapter, left it for some time, and then proceeded to binge-write the entire thing in about two days.

Yeah… that might explain my writing to you readers. Sometimes, I write about 1000 words in a session. Other times, I finish an entire chapter in a session. It's not exactly a stable thing.

Then again, I did feel refreshed after coming back to writing this after a break or two.

Now, the stakes are high as our group battles Termina. What will happen from here on out? Only time will tell, I suppose. That, and if I can finish the next chapter. We should see the final boss, at least.

As for Heroes in Another Dimension, it will be briefly mentioned, but since this work of fanfiction has altered things so much, I'm willing to leave it out of this fic. I think it adds unnecessary length to the fic, and it simply an extra to a story well built despite how well done it is ingame.

Anyhoo, off to the next one.


End file.
